I. M. Pei in China, revisiting roots
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“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Mr. Pei, the 89-year-old architect, who was nursing a cold and sipping1 from a cup of hot water. “I’ve used gray and white, which are Suzhou colors. But the form is modern.”
 
Oct. 9 - For I. M. Pei, the sprawling2 white stucco museum that opened to great fanfare3 here this weekend is both a possible swan song and a second chance.

 

The only other building he has ever designed in mainland China, a luxury hotel completed in Beijing in 1982, was a disappointment that he says was rescued only by its beautiful setting in the woods. “I was saved by the trees,” he said ruefully in an interview Saturday afternoon.

 

This time Mr. Pei believes he has succeeded, he said. Returning to his ancestral home 100 miles northwest of Shanghai, he has designed a $40 million building that he hopes will help point the way toward a new type of architecture in the world’s fastest-growing economy, a building that is Chinese in spirit yet ultimately modern.

 

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Mr. Pei, the 89-year-old architect, who was nursing a cold and sipping from a cup of hot water. “I’ve used gray and white, which are Suzhou colors. But the form is modern.”

 

Since retiring in 1990 from his New York firm, Mr. Pei has traveled the world, putting his bright, geometric imprints4 on buildings in London, Luxembourg, Japan and the Middle East.

 

The Suzhou Museum is uniquely personal for him, he said. Although Mr. Pei was born south of here, in Guangzhou, and grew up mostly in Hong Kong and Shanghai, his forebears lived in Suzhou for hundreds of years. And he spent several memorable5 summers here as a youth. “My grandfather had a house and a garden here,” he said. “I was one of the older grandsons. I should learn about the family business. So I came here three summers. I remember it well.”

 

Mr. Pei’s father was a prominent banker, serving at one time as governor of the country’s central bank. Mr. Pei himself left China in 1935 to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then Harvard. He did not return for nearly 40 years, when he led a group of American architects on a visit in 1974.

 

Later, at the behest of the Chinese government, he returned again to design the luxury hotel in Beijing, in the Fragrant6 Hills park sector7.

 

He said the project was fraught8 with delays and obstacles, including a shortage of quality materials. “It was an experience that discouraged me a lot about China,” he says. “I didn’t think China had a future. The young people didn’t work. They just slept on the job.”

 

Yet four years ago, when he was asked by the Suzhou government to build a large museum on hallowed ground adjoining a complex of 19th-century historical structures and two gardens listed as Unesco World Heritage sites, Mr. Pei did not hesitate.

 

“I had roots here, and I felt I hadn’t done right,” he said, referring to the Fragrant Hills project. “I wanted to make amends9, or to do something that will have a greater impact on architecture.”

 

There were challenges. The museum would sit in the city’s historic district, and some traditional houses would have to be moved or destroyed to make way for it, prompting complaints from residents.

Mr. Pei toiled10 over design concepts that might blend East and West while avoiding some of the failures of the Fragrant Hills project, which was also a mix. He sought to remain true to China’s tradition of courtyards and gardens yet rethink those models. He wanted neither a flat Western roof nor the arched gray tile roof typical of Suzhou.

 

He found a solution that incorporated the idea of whitewashed11 walls but eliminated the gray tile roofs, accenting the building instead with gray stone.

 

“Instead of gray tile roofs, I needed something that would develop volumes,” he said, drawing a diagram on a paper showing an ascending12 roof pattern. “So I let the walls climb onto the roof. If the walls were stucco, why not the roof?”

 

The result is a 160,000-square-foot museum that has many of the hallmarks of Mr. Pei’s earlier designs — his squares, rectangles and pyramids — as well as an expansive use of glass and light. It also has traditional motifs13, like a large Chinese garden with an artificial pond, a Chinese footbridge and a wall of thinly sliced rocks that yields an image of a series of mountain peaks against an older, whitewashed garden wall.

 

The timing14 of the opening was ideal, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the Chinese return home to pay homage15 to their ancestors and to snack on “moon cakes.” To celebrate the opening Mr. Pei invited more than 100 relatives and close friends from around the world, including friends from the art and music worlds. On Friday evening the Suzhou government gave a party for Mr. Pei with a show of traditional Chinese art and music, and on Saturday Mr. Pei held his own private party, a night of music, dance and fireworks.

 

Suzhou was a major cultural center during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the museum houses relics16 from those periods, including jade17, porcelain18, calligraphy19 and paintings. Also on view is a special exhibition of works by three contemporary artists, Xu Bing, Cai Guoqiang and Zhao Wuji, all of whom left China to study or create away from home, just as Mr. Pei did.

 

Since he left his architectural practice in 1990, Mr. Pei said, he has accepted only commissions outside the United States, largely because of his experience in designing the addition to the Louvre in Paris, with its famed glass pyramid. “That project taught me that to know a country you have to work there on a project of consequence,” he said. “So after that project I told myself, ‘Let’s learn about the world.’ ”

 

With his Suzhou Museum design, Mr. Pei said, he hopes to encourage and even inspire China, which is in the midst of a frantic20 building boom, to consider its own rich traditions, to be neither a slave to the past nor an weak imitator of the West.

 

Looking out from the 48th-floor lounge in the Shangri-La Hotel toward a series of huge real estate projects — row after row of what might be considered Chinese versions of Levittown — Mr. Pei said: “Terrible things are happening. I can’t stop it. I can’t stop progress. But I hope it will be temporary.”

 

He said he hoped that in time the country would find its own path.

 

In China, “architecture and the garden are one,” he said. “A Western building is a building, and a garden is a garden. They’re related in spirit. But they are one in China.”

 

As for whether the museum is his final project, Mr. Pei said: “Never predict the future. If you ask my wife, she’ll say that’s it. But if you ask me, I’m not sure it’s the end. There are always challenges in life.”

 



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sipping e7d80fb5edc3b51045def1311858d0ae     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
  • She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。
2 sprawling 3ff3e560ffc2f12f222ef624d5807902     
adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着)
参考例句:
  • He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
  • a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇
3 fanfare T7by6     
n.喇叭;号角之声;v.热闹地宣布
参考例句:
  • The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
  • A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。
4 imprints def38b53bdddb921bca90a8e2d0cad78     
n.压印( imprint的名词复数 );痕迹;持久影响
参考例句:
  • With each step he took, his boots left muddy imprints on the floor. 她父亲的毡靴一移动,就在地板上压了几个泥圈圈。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
  • In Freudian theory, the imprints are memories, albeit unconscious ones. 在佛洛伊德理论中,这些痕迹就是记忆,只不过它们是无意识的。 来自互联网
5 memorable K2XyQ     
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的
参考例句:
  • This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
  • The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。
6 fragrant z6Yym     
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
  • The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。
7 sector yjczYn     
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形
参考例句:
  • The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
  • The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
8 fraught gfpzp     
adj.充满…的,伴有(危险等)的;忧虑的
参考例句:
  • The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
  • There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的!
9 amends AzlzCR     
n. 赔偿
参考例句:
  • He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花,为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
  • This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。
10 toiled 599622ddec16892278f7d146935604a3     
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
参考例句:
  • They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
  • He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。
11 whitewashed 38aadbb2fa5df4fec513e682140bac04     
粉饰,美化,掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
  • The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形,状近葫芦,外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
12 ascending CyCzrc     
adj.上升的,向上的
参考例句:
  • Now draw or trace ten dinosaurs in ascending order of size.现在按照体型由小到大的顺序画出或是临摹出10只恐龙。
13 motifs ad7b2b52ecff1d960c02db8f14bea812     
n. (文艺作品等的)主题( motif的名词复数 );中心思想;基本模式;基本图案
参考例句:
  • I try to develop beyond the old motifs. 我力求对传统的花纹图案做到推陈出新。 来自辞典例句
  • American Dream is one of the most important motifs of American literature. “美国梦”是美国文学最重要的母题之一。 来自互联网
14 timing rgUzGC     
n.时间安排,时间选择
参考例句:
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
15 homage eQZzK     
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬
参考例句:
  • We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
  • The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。
16 relics UkMzSr     
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸
参考例句:
  • The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
  • Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。
17 jade i3Pxo     
n.玉石;碧玉;翡翠
参考例句:
  • The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
  • He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。
18 porcelain USvz9     
n.瓷;adj.瓷的,瓷制的
参考例句:
  • These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
  • The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。
19 calligraphy BsRzP     
n.书法
参考例句:
  • At the calligraphy competition,people asked him to write a few characters.书法比赛会上,人们请他留字。
  • His calligraphy is vigorous and forceful.他的书法苍劲有力。
20 frantic Jfyzr     
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的
参考例句:
  • I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
  • He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。
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