Pei Li Zhong Suzhou Lecture: Tracing the architectural legacy of I.M. Pei across cultures and generations

China News Service, Suzhou, September 22 (Reporter Zhong Sheng) "Every time I return to Suzhou, I always think of what my father often said: 'Architecture is a long dialogue.' This is a dialogue with history, a dialogue with the site, a dialogue with light and shadow, and a dialogue with materials. If you are lucky, this dialogue will span generations and continue." Starting from this sentence, Bei Lizhong started a period of tracing the origins of his father, I.M. Pei, across generations.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the completion and opening of the main building of the Suzhou Museum, Pei Li-zhong, son of I.M. Pei and founding partner and chairman of Pei Architects, gave a lecture titled "The Shape of Memory - Pei's Architectural Heritage Across Cultures and Generations" at the museum on the 22nd. He deeply analyzed Pei's architectural heritage and traced his creative practice in five iconic museums including the Suzhou Museum.

I.M. Pei's ancestral home is in Suzhou. He once said: "I have always known where I come from. The Pei family has been in Suzhou for six hundred years, and I have feelings for Suzhou." When he was young, I.M. Pei returned to his hometown several times and lived in the Lion Grove, a famous garden in the south of the Yangtze River that was the Pei family's private garden at that time. The pavilions, rockeries and rocks of the Lion Grove left a profound impact on the young I.M. Pei.

Bei Lizhong introduced: "There is a concept in Chinese classical garden design - 'the scenery changes with each step'. Chinese gardens are never visible to people at a glance. They reveal themselves layer by layer: through frames, thresholds, and turns, hiding and exposing are equally important. My father's buildings, no matter where they are built in the world, follow the same logic. They unfold slowly, and the full picture is slowly revealed as you walk."

In 1946, I.M. Pei completed his graduation project at the Harvard Graduate School of Design with the title "Chinese Art Museum in Shanghai." The architectural form of the museum has been used throughout I.M. Pei's design career, but he was never able to design a museum in China as he envisioned in his graduation project. It was not until nearly a year after he completed his graduation project that his hometown of Suzhou sent him an invitation to design the main building of the Suzhou Museum.

According to Pei Li, who participated in the Subo project with his father, Pei never regarded cultural context as the background, but as the starting point of design and the source of architectural significance. The Suzhou Museum is not a nostalgic return, but a review of cultural logic. This building listens to Suzhou's gardens, courtyards, white walls and black tiles, and uses abstract techniques to translate tradition. The entire building is made of white walls, gray granite, and dark wood colors. You can see the temperament of Suzhou at a glance, but it is written in a clear and modern style.

"Twenty years after its completion, the Suzhou Museum is still one of the quietest and most profound works in my father's career. It does not have a grand scale, nor does it pursue iconic visual impact. It seems as if it should be here and always belongs to the cultural landscape of Suzhou." Bei Lizhong said: "The Suzhou Museum has witnessed my father's lifelong thinking, lifelong polishing, and lifelong cultural dialogue. It also reminds us: the best architecture is a gift - a gift to the site, a gift to culture, and a gift to future generations."