KeenBrain
KeenBrain
KeenBrain

I. M. Pei Quotes


Share this page on

Quotes by I. M. Pei

Showing 1-10 of 22 Quotes by I. M. Pei

We had a lot of difficulty in getting the French to accept the pyramid. They thought we were trying to import a piece of Egypt until I pointed out that their obelisk was also from Egypt and the Place des Pyramides is around the corner. Then they accepted it. The pyramid at the Louvre, though, is just the tip.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


A lasting architecture has to have roots.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


To me, form doesn't always follow function. Form has a life of its own, and at times, it may be the motivating force in design. When you're dealing with form as a sculptor, you feel that you are quite free in attempting to mould and shape things you want to do, but in architecture, it's much more difficult because it has to have a function.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


I'd been going to the Louvre since 1951. I thought I knew Paris and the French, but I didn't really. You know how easy it is to make friends when you are traveling. People are curious about you, you are curious about them. But you never really make friends that way. After the Louvre, I discovered that I have friends now because I have enemies.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


The Pyramids are perfect, but you can't put the Pyramids in the middle of Manhattan. In the desert, the combination of light and form makes it perfect.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


A city, far from being a cluster of buildings, is actually a sequence of spaces enclosed and defined by buildings.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


I liked the America of Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton - it was all a dream, of course, but a very alluring dream for a young man from Canton.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


It is good to learn from the ancients. I'm a bit of an ancient myself. They had a lot of time to think about architecture and landscape.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


Modern architecture needed to be part of an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, process.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


The essence of architecture is form and space, and light is the essential element to the key to architectural design, probably more important than anything. Technology and materials are secondary.

~I. M. Pei

Topics: None

Keywords: None


Suggest an Edit


Cite the source


Save to Favorites


Collect


Biography

Nationality: American

Type: Architect

Born: April 26th, 1917

Links

Find I. M. Pei on Amazon

Related Authors

Christopher Alexander
Daniel Burnham
Frank Gehry
Philip Johnson
Louis Kahn
Frederick Law Olmsted
Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
Frank Lloyd Wright

Popular Authors

Cesar Chavez Christopher Columbus Thich Nhat Hanh Lyndon B. Johnson Colin Kaepernick Jenn Proske Emma Stone Desmond Tutu

Change your beliefs...change your life.

Get a related quote or insight every day.

(it's 100% free)

Follow Us On

Today's Birthdays

1883 - Coco Chanel

1631 - John Dryden

1686 - Eustace Budgell

1689 - Samuel Richardson

1780 - Pierre Jean De Beranger

1808 - James Nasmyth

1835 - Richard Parks Bland

1856 - John Cotton Dana

1870 - Bernard Baruch

1871 - Orville Wright

Birthdays on August 19th
All Birthdays

Popular Topics

Cool Courage Easter Fitness Leadership Patriotism Romantic Wisdom