I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, presented in collaboration with M+ Hong Kong, at Al Riwaq, is the first full-scale retrospective of Pei's seven-decade career. Opening to the public on 30 October 2025, together with I. M. Pei and the Making of the Museum of Islamic Art: From Square to Octagon and Octagon to Circle, the exhibitions will offer an unprecedented dual perspective on the internationally acclaimed architect.
Curated and organised by M+ in 2024, the travelling exhibition I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture brings together more than 400 objects, including original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and archival documentation from institutional and private holdings that reveal Pei's unparalleled vision. His projects had an extraordinarily global reach, from the National Gallery of Art's East Building in Washington, D.C., to the modernisation of the Grand Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Each of these works features prominently in the exhibition. Tracing Pei's life and work against the complex geopolitical realities and cultural legacies of the 20th and 21st centuries, I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture offers the fullest presentation of his work ever assembled.
