I.M. Pei Quotes

Architecture is the very mirror of life.You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.

I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.

Success is a collection of problems solved.

Life is architecture and architecture is the mirror of life.

It is not an individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you produce great architecture. You cannot work in the abstract

Stop worrying about missed opportunities and start looking for new ones.

I want to bring out the best in a community and contribute something of permanent value.

Design is something you have to put your hand to.

Great artists need great clients.

You cannot defend your design without knowing what you're designing for.

Let's do it right. This is for the ages.

Be the best, not necessarily the original.

I didn't want to think about a project that I couldn't finish. That's a kind of temptation. One has to realize one's limitations. Why kid yourself? 

I haven't taken any new projects in the past years - I told myself, if I cannot live long enough to finish it, I don't want it.

I cannot work and listen to Wagner at the same time, nor Mahler, nor Beethoven's late quartets. I enjoy listening to Chopin's piano music when I work.

Good architecture lets nature in.

Science and technology contribute to the fast-expanding vocabularies of all living civilized tongues at a faster rate than all other fields of human endeavor put together.

At home, I have a wife, fortunately, and my children are all grown, and I have many grandchildren. I spend weekends with my grandchildren; I adore them.

If you will scoff at language study how, save in terms of language, will you scoff?

For Kips Bay, I had a wonderful client, William Zeckendorf, who was willing to gamble with me on using concrete and not brick for a high-rise apartment building. That was very innovative at the time.

I've never left China. My family's been there for 600 years. But my architecture is not consciously Chinese in any sense. I'm a western architect.

I think the artistic side of architecture was natural to me. My mother was an artist and a poet.

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

A lasting architecture has to have roots.

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.

Architecture must not do violence to space or its neighbors.

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.

It is not an individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you produce great architecture. You cannot work in the abstract.