Published: March 11, 2010
THIRTEEN's American Masters explores the creative genius of I.M. Pei as he reshapes the future of architecture in China in I.M. Pei: Building China Modern, premiering March 31 on PBS
NEW YORK - (BUSINESS WIRE) - I.M. Pei has been called the most important living modern architect,
defining the landscapes of some of the world's greatest cities. A
monumental figure in his field and a laureate of the prestigious Pritzker
Architecture Prize, Pei is the senior statesman of modernism and last
surviving link to such great early architects as Corbusier, Gropius, and
Mies van der Rohe. Entering into the twilight of his career and well
into his eighties, Pei returns to his ancestral home of Suzhou, China to
work on his most personal project to date. He is commissioned to build a
modern museum in the city's oldest neighborhood which is populated by
classical structures from the Ming and Qing dynasties. For the architect
who placed the pyramid at the Louvre, the test to integrate the new with
the old is familiar but still difficult. The enormous task is to help
advance China architecturally without compromising its heritage. In the
end, what began as his greatest challenge and a labor of sentiment, says
Pei, ultimately becomes "my biography."
Premiering nationally on Wednesday, March
31, 2010 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings), American
Masters's I.M. Pei: Building China Modern follows
Pei on this historic journey to define China's architectural vision as
it comes into its own on the world stage. Post-broadcast, the film will
stream online at pbs.org/americanmasters.
Currently in its 24th season, American Masters
is a production of THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG - one of
America's most prolific and respected public media providers.
"I.M. Pei is an architectural poet - a living legend," says Susan Lacy,
series creator and executive producer of American Masters,
a seven-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime
Non-Fiction Series. "He's among the league of rare American masters
whose artistic sensibilities have both provoked public debate and
transformed our notions of what is possible, of how tradition can be
honored in the 21st century."
The film captures Pei as he forges an architectural language that brings
together Western modernity and Eastern tradition into a current
synthesis. After decades of living in the U.S. and amassing
unprecedented international acclaim for his projects, Pei returns as a
"foreigner" to his birth country to give a new direction for Chinese
architecture in which history can live in the midst of change. In
effect, Pei, who has contributed to America's urban landscape during the
height of its architectural and engineering power is now helping China
do the same. Few architects have played such a critical dual role.
With an agenda of change, Pei inevitably enters into a crucible of
conflict in Suzhou. For those concerned about the loss of traditional
forms of architectural identity, he is too modern. For those who would
simply bulldoze China's past, he is too tradition-minded. Adding to the
already complex assignment, he faces the controversy of displacing
residents living at the museum site. To meet the design challenges, Pei
draws on ideas that stretch far back within his own life and work -
including a 1946 thesis project at Harvard, where he was taught abstract
modern architecture. Throughout his education and career, Pei maintains
his "impossible dream" to bring together modernity and traditional,
regional influences (including nature) in his work. Eight years in the
making, American Masters' I.M. Pei: Building China
Modern traces Pei's pursuit of that dream and explores the
defining conflicts of our age - the lure of the modern versus the pull
of history. The result is a surprisingly revealing and intimate portrait
of the man who set as his goal nothing less than the redefinition of
architecture in modern China.
American Masters' I.M. Pei: Building China Modern
is a co-production of PACEM Distribution International, LLC and the
Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with South Carolina
ETV (SCETV), the China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC), and
The New River Education Fund, Inc. Eugene B. Shirley, Jr. is producer.
Anne Makepeace is director. Eugene B. Shirley, Jr. and Anne Shirley are
executive producers. Caroline Courtauld and Tom Parry are co-executive
producers. Anne Makepeace and Brian Funck are writers. Polly Kosko is
executive-in-charge of production for SCETV. Sally Jo Fifer is executive
producer for ITVS. Susan Lacy is the series creator and executive
producer of American Masters.
American Masters is made possible by the support of the
National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting. Additional funding for American Masters is
provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation,
Jack Rudin, Elizabeth Rosenthal in memory of Rolf W. Rosenthal, The
Andre and Elizabeth Kertesz Foundation, Michael & Helen Schaffer
Foundation, and public television viewers.
Major funding for American Masters' I.M. Pei:
Building China Modern is provided by Shumei and its flagship
cultural institution, the Miho Museum. Additional funding for the
program is provided by Kimball Chen, Alice King, Goldman Sachs (Asia)
LLC, Shirley Young, Paul B.J. & Phyllis S.Y. Chu Charitable Trust,
Ambrose W.H. Lam, Elaine Forsgate Marden, Grace Wu Bruce, Sir David
Tang, Adeline Yen Mah and Robert A. Mah.
To take American Masters beyond the television broadcast
and further explore the themes, stories, and personalities of masters
past and present, the companion Web site (pbs.org/americanmasters)
offers interviews, essays, photographs, outtakes, and other
resources.
Press Materials: pbs.org/pressroom
or thirteen.org/pressroom
WNET.ORG
Donna Williams, 212-560-8030
WilliamsD@wnet.org
or
Donald
Lee, 212-560-3005
LeeD@wnet.org
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