Pei's Cubist-inspired museum design was very well-received, with renowned architect Marcel Breuer declaring it the most important project ever produced at Harvard. Pei saw Cubism as a way to understand physical movements and feelings in an entirely new manner, which he felt was essential to creating architecture that provokes strong physical responses in the human body.
According to Pei, the interplay of solids and voids, and the effects of light upon them, are fundamental to the art of architecture. He believed architecture was inseparable from painting and sculpture, a view evidenced by the Cubist influences apparent in some of his own building designs, such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Everson Museum, and National Gallery of Art East Wing.
Pei's fascination with Cubism led him to seek out and befriend the Cubist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz in the 1950s and 60s, as Pei sought to further understand and incorporate Cubist principles into his architectural work. (source: von Boehm_Conversation with Pei_MIT & GSD)
Pei's museum project was sited on the location of the existing Municipal Museum designed by Dong Dayou and built in 1935. Pei's design sought to replace this "inadequate" structure, criticizing the new "modern" Chinese architecture of the time, and create something he felt would be more "befitting" for the site and its purpose.
Through this museum design, Pei's work was positioned within the broader context of the Greater Shanghai Plan's ambitions to reshape and assert Chinese control over the city's built environment, moving beyond the foreign-influenced architecture that had previously dominated.
SOURCE: Wikipedia
SOURCE: https://www.meer.com/en/63012-the-nationalist-shanghai-greater-plan
SOURCE: www.shanghaiartdeco.net/shanghais-lost-chinese-art-deco-city/
There are many different drawers, which are not just for storage; they often have a symbolic and functional significance. Traditionally, the layout and size of the drawers may reflect the hierarchical nature of the items stored within them. For example, larger drawers might be used for storing more significant or frequently used items, while smaller drawers could be for items of lesser use or importance.
1. Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai | Site Plan
2. Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai | Elevations
3. Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai | Lower-Floor Plan
4. Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai | Upper-Floor Plan
5. Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai | Sectional Perspective
Video
Rethinking Pei: A Centenary Symposium
Articles/Journals/Magazines
Hsiao (2018)_I. M. Pei’s Museum for Chinese Art
Progressive Architecture (1948-02)
von Boehm_Conversation with Pei_MIT & GSD
Walter Gropius_ L’architecture d’aujourd’hui_p76-77
Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai (GSD Thesis)_Info Pack