In this latest installment of our series “French Connections: Paris and Philly” we’re taking you to the Louvre to tell you about I.M. Pei who was one of the most highly sought after architects of his time. He spent seven decades transforming cities like Philadelphia and Paris. NBC10’s Jacqueline London has the story.
Looking at the skyline of Philadelphia now, it's hard to imagine how different it was more than 60 years ago.
Just as three buildings rose in Society Hill in 1964, so did the architect behind them, I.M. Pei who was brought into the city of Brotherly Love by urban planner and Philly native Edmund Bacon.
"He's a revered person in Philadelphia because...he had that vision to remake Society Hill and bring in people like Pei to do it," architect Daniel Kelley, of MGA Partners, told NBC10. We spoke with Kelley to learn more about the connection our city has with Pei.
I.M. Pei who moved to the United States from China and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania was always intrigued by modern architecture.
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"He probably had Philadelphia warm in his heart," Kelley explained. "One of his first commissions that he had as an architect that began his practice was Society Hill Towers and Bingham Court and some of the low-rise townhouses."
Kelley actually resides in one of the townhomes that Pei constructed in Society Hill which is considered an urban renewal success story.
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"These are 27 townhouses built around this courtyard. And I think it's so rare in a bustling city to have a quiet space like this to live in, but this is so quiet and nice," Kelley said as he showed us his home.
Pei used a modern touch to bring people to the city. He clearly had a skill for bringing people in whether it was for one of his first projects in Society Hill or one of his last in France.
Outside of the largest museum in the world, the Louvre, is an attraction all its own by day and night.
After studying at Penn, Pei created the glass pyramid in an area that was previously a parking lot.
Pei used his signature style with this pyramid of geometric shapes and sharp edges. However, that modern approach did come with controversy because it was in such stark contrast to the traditional façade of the museum.
The French criticism of the planned pyramid filled newspapers with questions about the shape, some comparing it to Disneyland and the public being perplexed.
But Pei had the last laugh with the museum doubling its attendance from 2.8 million prior to the construction of the pyramid in 1980 to more than 5 million a year after it was finished in 1990.
The number of visitors is only going up from there with it boasting a record 10.2 million visitors in 2018.
"I think ultimately it's become beloved because it didn't, it complimented this very ornate French Baroque courtyard," Kelley explained. "It's saying, 'I'm something different. We don't have to compete. We can both be here in the same place and people can love us both.' And that they talk to each other, I think."
In a documentary from the I.M. Pei Foundation, the late famed architect recounts how he came up with the style and the design.
"We came up with this pyramid because of its shape, that would conceal a lot more than this," Pei said. "The more transparent it is, the more the palace of the Louvre retains its importance."
From Society Hill to the Louvre. Different spaces with the same goal of bringing people together.
“I’ll bet that if we could grace him from the dead, he’d speak very well about Philadelphia and how it began to affect his early career," Kelley said.
Edmund Bacon said great cities are not great because of individual buildings but they're great because of the way things fit together.
As evidenced in glass or brick. In urban spaces or museums. In Philadephia or in Paris.
This is the latest installment in the French Connections: Paris and Philly series that airs every week on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. leading up to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
