Ieoh Ming Pei, Chinese-American architect behind buildings including glass pyramid outside Louvre in Paris passes away

Ieoh Ming Pei (102), the Chinese-American architect behind buildings including the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris, has passed away in Manhattan, United States on May 16, 2019. His designs are renowned for their emphasis on precision geometry, plain surfaces and natural light. He carried on working well into old age, creating one of his most famous masterpieces – the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar – in his 80s. Born in Guangzhou (China) in 1917, Pei moved to the US at the age of 18 to study at Pennsylvania, MIT and Harvard. He worked as a research scientist for the US government during World War Two, and went on to work as an architect, founding his own firm in 1955. Pei sparked controversy for his pyramid at the Louvre Museum. The glass structure, completed in 1989, is now one of Paris’ most famous landmarks. His other work includes Dallas City Hall and Japan’s Miho Museum. In 1983, Pei was given the prestigious Pritzker Prize. He used his $100,000 prize money to start a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study architecture in America.