South Carolina ETV
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ETV to Premiere “American Masters” National Presentation of “I.M. Pei: Building China Modern”
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2010
Columbia, SC…On Wednesday, March 31, ETV’s national presentation of the “American Masters” documentary “I.M. Pei: Building China Modern” airs statewide at 9 p.m.
Many years before his status as the world-renowned architect responsible for such works as the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, the Javits Convention Center in New York City, the Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris and the Bank of Hong Kong, there was the young I.M. Pei who left China as a guileless student in the 1930s. His study of abstract modern architecture at Harvard, a method which is stylistically heavy, impersonal and alienating, would be the antithesis of his “impossible dream” to bring nature to his work, to join modernity and tradition into a harmonious whole – an approach reminiscent of growing up near his great uncle’s gardens in Suzhou.
Decades and many worlds later, and now in his early 90s, Pei was invited to design a modern museum to house the antiquities of Suzhou. This hour-long documentary follows this personal and architectural journey from west to east, an expansive full-circle, a literal coming home – the realization of Pei’s lifelong dream. Undoubtedly gratifying, this museum was also his greatest challenge. Seven-and-a-half years in its construction, this endeavor is one he ultimately defines as “my biography.”
Because of the unique access and opportunity to film seven-and-a-half years, the program provides a “you-are-there” sensibility, with Pei’s own immediate perspective always in the forefront. While his is the central unifying voice, local residents, design specialists, Suzhou officials, and a stellar array of architects, designers and scholars, comment on Pei’s life and work. Thematically, the film remains true to an exploration of one of the defining conflicts of the age – the lure of the modern versus the pull of history and tradition.
South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.
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For more information, contact Dana McCullough at (803) 737-3212 or dmccullough@scetv.org.
Photos may be downloaded for the sole purpose of publicizing this program. To download an image, click on the picture below. A new Web page will open containing the hi-res version. Right click on the hi-res image, and select "Save As" or "Save Picture As."
Architect I.M. Pei with museum model. Photo credit: Pei Partnership Architects
I.M. Pei: Suzhou Museum in China. Photo credit: Kerun Ip
I.M. Pei: Suzhou Museum Great Hall in China. Photo credit: Kerun Ip
Architect I.M. Pei in Suzhou. Photo credit: Bing Lin, Pei Partnership Architect
Photos may be downloaded for the sole purpose of publicizing this program. To download an image, click on the picture below. A new Web page will open containing the hi-res version. Right click on the hi-res image, and select "Save As" or "Save Picture As."
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