The National Gallery of Art East Building is celebrating I.M. Pei's 100th birthday on April 26!
I.M. Pei, 1965. Photo by John Loengard, via architectsbyphotographers.wordpress.com.
I.M. Pei's 100th birthday is tomorrow! In celebration of the legendary architect's birthday, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. will host a public talk in the Pei-designed East Building featuring architect Perry Y. Chin – a longtime associate of Pei's — and Susan Wertheim, the Gallery's chief architect and deputy administrator for capital projects.
Architect I.M. Pei in the East Building of the National Gallery of Art on opening day, June 1, 1978. Photo © Dennis Brack/Black Star. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives. Image via nga.gov.
Susan Wertheim will honor Pei's National Gallery of Art East Building, which is regarded as one of the great public structures in the U.S. capital. She will first talk about Pei's architectural legacy at the Gallery and then join Perry Y. Chin to reflect on experiences working on the recently renovated East Building.
On July 9, 1968, the trustees of the National Gallery chose I.M. Pei to design a new building that would complement the historic John Russell Pope-designed West Building, provide additional space for the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, and also serve as a new art history research center.
Pei successfully completed the modern East Building on its complex trapezoidal site, and the building officially opened to the public on June 1, 1978. The AIA honored the East Building with the Twenty-Five Year Award in 2004 — not to mention that Pei's Grand Louvre won the 2017 Twenty-Five Year Award earlier this year. You can learn more about Pei's design of the East Building on the National Gallery of Art's website. More about tomorrow's event below.