I travel to the Middle East, I travel to China, I travel to Europe. It's all very rewarding - the only problem is the travel is getting more and more difficult for me now. Ten years ago I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
I. M. PeiI believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.
I. M. PeiContemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but itโs not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I donโt want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.
I. M. PeiWhen I got the opportunity to do the new wing [the Schauhaus] for the German Historical Museum, for instance, I didn't see it as an opportunity for my own ego, to do something so exciting that every architectural publication would want to put it on the cover. I accepted it because I knew it was going to be a very difficult project, and I wasn't sure I could do something exciting there.
I. M. Pei