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When I.M. Pei's Grand Louvre in Paris was first completed in 1989, it was denounced as a modernist insult to its historic location, the 800-year-old Grand Palais. But 27 years later, the 71-foot-tall glass pyramid has become as treasured as the artwork it houses. In an announcement today, the... View full entry
From the outside, not much has changed. After a three-year, $69m renovation, the East Building of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, looks about the same as it did when it first opened in June 1978. [...]
Step inside and the differences become clear. The gallery, which reopens to the public on 30 September, has managed to carve out more than 12,250 sq. ft of additional exhibition space without expanding its physical footprint.
— theartnewspaper.com
↑ I.M. Pei, who designed the East Building, on the structure's original opening day, June 1, 1978. Photo © Dennis Brack/Black Star. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery ArchivesRelated stories in the Archinect news:Louvre director plans its grand revampPei Cobb Freed faces lawsuit... View full entry
A carer for the architect IM Pei [...] has been charged with assaulting the 98-year-old in his Manhattan townhouse.
Eter Nikolaishvili, 28, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of assaulting Pei early in December when he threatened to report her to the police for “doing something bad”, police said. [...]
Pei was taken to hospital at 4am on the day of the alleged assault suffering from bleeding lacerations and bruising, after Nikolaishvili grabbed and twisted his arm, police said.
— theguardian.com
Pei Coob Freed-related news on Archinect:I.M. Pei named as 2014 recipient of the UIA Gold MedalLouvre director plans its grand revampPei Cobb Freed faces lawsuit from Cornell over "faulty" Johnson Museum expansion scheme View full entry
Cornell alleges that the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners committed 'architectural malpractice' in its plans for the new wing of the museum, leading to structural deficiencies, cavities in the roof, cracks in the ceiling and other problems. The university says it has suffered 'at least' $1.1 million in damages as a result of the flawed designs. Pei, who also designed the original museum in 1968, was hired by the university to build the addition in 2006. — The Ithaca Voice
Related:Jean Nouvel loses court case over 'sabotaged' Philharmonie de ParisCornell professor declares OMA-designed Milstein Hall "a disaster"Architects can now be held liable for building defects, rules California Supreme Court View full entry
Jean-Luc Martinez, who was promoted to the directorship of the Musée du Louvre last year, is proposing the most ambitious renovation of the Paris museum since the Grand Louvre project of the 1980s. [...]
Planning the museum’s comprehensive renovation began in June and work is due to start on the main entrance this month. [...] Martinez also plans to devote 1,500 sq. m of space to major temporary exhibitions in the Napoleon Hall, which is beneath the museum’s I.M. Pei-designed entrance pyramid.
— theartnewspaper.com
Ieoh Ming Pei, the now 97-year-old renowned Chinese-born American architect, was recently named the 2014 recipient of the prestigious International Union of Architects Gold Medal. The UIA Gold Medal honors an architect's life and work achievements in the course of more than 60 years and five continents in modern architecture history. — bustler.net
Best known as I.M. Pei, some of his most famous structures include the glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the National Museum of Art in Washington, the Johnson Museum of Art in New York, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, to name a few.He has received other prestigious... View full entry
The National Slavery Museum, which was spearheaded by former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, never paid Pei for the architectural work. Pei says it is owed more than $6 million, money that the firm hopes to recoup in an eventual sale of the 38 acres.
The slavery museum organization now owes more than $300,000 in delinquent real estate taxes to Fredericksburg. The city has begun the lengthy legal process of selling the land at auction to recoup the back taxes.
— news.fredericksburg.com
Given his stature, the demolition of Terminal 6 arguably ranks as the most significant loss of a transportation building in New York since Pennsylvania Station was razed in the early 1960s.
Mr. Cobb does not think of the two events as analogous, however. “This is not pure greed,” he said. “This is the myopic view of engineers. They just can’t figure out how to reuse it and they don’t put enough value on it to figure out how to reuse it.”
— New York Times
