I.M. Pei

Ieoh Ming Pei died 16 May 2019.

He is described in Wikipedia as “a Chinese-American architect,” but that hardly does him justice. In fact, he was a curious amalgam of Western and Eastern, modern and classical, businessman and artist, pragmatist and theorist.

Other people were closer to Pei, and there are plenty of books and articles covering his life and work. Here I’d simply like to offer a couple of examples of his genius as shown in his comments on renderings I did for him.

He had a sure eye:

Many designers and architects have a hard time making up their minds. Mr. Pei was a pleasure to work for, because he knew what he wanted. When I finished the rendering of the Louvre, it did not show the fountains spraying. 

Mr. Pei insisted that they were necessary to complete the visual effect of the design. He was right: The fountain spray seems to moderate between the hard geometry of the glass pyramid and the ornate classicism of the old Louvre façade.

He was steeped in both art and architecture:

I always make pastel color sketches of any proposed rendering. When I showed Mr. Pei my sketches for the Athens Museum of Modern Art, he saw the mottled effect of the pastel in the sky and insisted that the effect be reproduced in the final. 

I had thought the mottling was a bug,but he saw it as an impressionist feature (along with the “van Gogh trees”). Again, he was right.

Finally…

He brought a classical eye to the ever-churning world of modern architecture. His best work shows a nuanced balance between the desperate newness of modern life and the ageless beauty of simple forms.

He will be missed.

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Portfolio & Comments

Over the years I have created quite a few one point perspectives. The following are samples of layouts, both hand and computer generated. Some illustrate an aspect of layout work, but most are simply here to show the range of projects that accommodate one point views. 

This layout from the 1980’s shows a pedestrian way through the Harper and Row Headquarters Building in Manhattan. It is essentially an elevation with steps in the foreground, and a rectangular passage receding geometrically into the distance. It could have been worked out using a diagonal vanishing point alone, but was actually constructed from a measured plan which can be seem in light pencil under the passageway itself. The most difficult part was the lettering on the cylinder to the left of the opening, which was worked out by eye.

This view of an office hallway at the General Reinsurance Headquarters in Manhattan was typical for sketches in the ‘80s. The plan can be seen at the bottom of the column, and the picture plane line and horizon line are the same. The drawing was not done to “sell” the concept, but was merely a taste of the finished space. Such sketches were the “bread and butter” of rendering work 30 years ago, but are done by computer in no time now.

This executive office is more complex than the preceding layout, but was done with the same limited intension.  In this case a blue print plan was placed under a sheet of vellum, and the position of various corners and objects were marked on the picture plane (the horizontal line near the top of the desk).  It is interesting in that it has a diagonal wall on the far right, and has a mirror directly in front of the desk (which shows the reflection of the diagonal wall).

This view of a high end furniture headquarters is relentlessly orthogonal, but has enough going on to make it interesting. The plan can be seen ghosted on the foreground, and, again, the picture plane line is the same as the horizontal line. Perhaps the hardest part of this drawing was the figures (“designy”, but not outré).

As noted before, exterior views of buildings don’t often make sense for one point perspectives. When you are viewing a large exterior space, as with this urban development project in Glasgow by KPF, it can be very effective. The construction lines are not visible on this drawing, but I do remember that it was worked out from a blue print. Note, that the tower at the center of the image is essentially an elevation with minimal shifts to show depth.

The original conception for this apartment building lobby involved a polished marble floor of equilateral triangles. Once that grid was constructed the position of everything else was settled. This layout was the first step in a process that culminated in a finished color rendering, which became part of the rental brochure.

Greenwich Mews is a row of townhouses in the West Village of NYC. When it was originally proposed they needed a perfectly accurate rendering to sell the concept to both buyers and the city agencies. It too became a complete colored rendering, but all the colors and materials were closely controlled so as to avoid any blow-back from disappointed buyers. These townhouses go for about $5 million these days.

Pei Cobb Freed Architects developed plans for the Barcelona waterfront in the late 80’s. This is one sketch showing a gateway structure leading from the Placa de les Drassanes to the Moll de Barcelona, with a new World Trade Center at its tip. This was one of a number of sketches on trace paper that added new structures to an existing view.

Perhaps the best known of my renderings is that of Pei’s Louvre renovation/addition. I had heard of the project before, but had not understood the extent of the construction until I was called on to reveal the underground space in a single perspective. The final layout was a conglomeration of a dozen photos, a computer wireframe, and hand layout work. Most of the existing structure was under scaffolding, so even that had to be filled in by hand. The final airbrush and acrylic rendering can be seen HERE.

The Old AT&T Building was converted to general office space back in the 80’s. The magnificent lobby was cleaned and restored to its previous glory. This layout is mostly a tracing of a photograph with the reception desk added. It is however an interesting example of a one point perspective, including the distortion that is noticeable in the column capitols at the edges of the view. 

Lower Manhattan is filled with old streets that are actually short narrow alleys, better suited to the 17^th century than today.  Dey Street is one of these alleys that was going to be converted to a pedestrian way, but was never carried out. This view of the proposal is another layout that mixed a photo of existing conditions and a hand layout of the proposed use. The octagonal paving pattern was actually fun to work out (ahh, the joys of youth).

This view of an auditorium at Franklin Marshall College shows a halfway point in working out the viewpoint, people and stageset that might work best. 

This proposal for the new Police Academy in New York City also shows a hybrid of computer and handwork. It was done at the time when computer rendering was still difficult and expensive, but wireframe hidden layouts were the norm. Shade and shadow, as well as any complex/natural object were always left to the person accustomed to hand rendering.

In this view of the Tokyo International Forum the trees, cars and people have been drawn onto a computer hidden line print, and the shade, shadow and general tones are being explored. I actually loved working with the computer at this point of my career; layouts can be boring and tedious, while working out the lighting and composition was always a pleasure.

The Philosophy building at Texas Tech is a heavily decorated building, but it pushed the wireframe business further along with surface textures, window detailing and general ornament. People, trees and the fountain’s water are still done by hand.

I am including this view of an auditorium at Columbia University as an example of a one point perspective that really is a highly complex layout. The stage proscenium and balcony seating vanish to the dot seen at the upper right, but everything else is either curved or has its own geometry. This rendering was done early in my career, and (believe it or not) was a really fun thing to layout.

The owners of this building on Fifth Avenue in New York City wanted to know what the new storefronts and entry would look like from across the avenue. It is only a perspective at the entry and the flags; an elevation would probably have done the trick just as well.    

This proposal for a high end hotel in Manhattan was my single attempt at a “Paul Rudolph” ink rendering. It was a lot of fun to do, and may be one of the reasons I wear glasses today. It is a one point perspective, although much of the upper tower is using the diagonal vanishing points. Also, as noted before, it works as a one point because it is a section perspective with a large interior space.

Large auditoriums (auditoria?) are perfect for section perspectives. The Kansas City Auditorium illustrates this, being a large space for the audience and a large space for the performers. In this case the entry stairs and lobbies were to be featured, so the vanishing point (center of the green lines) is at the center of the main lobby. This drawing was created in Photoshop, starting with a section provided by the architect, Hugh Hardy.

The final art, above, was also done in Photoshop.

The next perspective posts will be about 2 point (yes, there is no hard line between 1 and 2 point, but you’ve got to cut the subject apart somewhere).

Other posts on Perspective:

Perspective- An Introduction

Perspective - One Point Perspective - History to Beaux Arts

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Exterior Elevations

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Interior Elevations

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Aerial

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Using a Diagonal Vanishing Point

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Distortions & Complications

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Portfolio & Comments

Perspective - Two Point Perspective - Distortions & Complications
Perspective - Three Point Perspective- Hand & CAD

Airbrush Demo - I M Pei's Louvre

The Louvre in Paris has been around for hundreds of years, beginning as a businesslike medieval castle, and developing into a royal palace. It acquired its present style in the Renaissance under Francis I, who tore down the old castle and began to develop the dignified, sculpted facades we see today.  The Louvre has long housed a private museum for the French kings, and under Louis XIV, the Sun King, the state academies were established there.  With the revolution the museum became a public institution and the royal academies became the Ecole des Beaux Arts (and were moved to their own digs).  The photo above shows the courtyard at the turn of the century.  The monument in the foreground to Leon Gambetta was removed during World War II, but otherwise the configuration of the Louvre was unchanged until the arrival of Pei's pyramid in 1989.
The following images are the scanned slides I took while producing a comprehensive image of the new construction.  For anyone interested in airbrush work it should be interesting.  For the rest of you, scroll down to the end to enjoy the finished product.  (The lighting was less than optimal, so there will be glare and uneven color, but hopefully you can still understand the process)

This is the concept sketch showing the enclosing courtyard and the underground visitors area.  It is clunky, but the basic idea is there.

Here is the computer model of the pyramids with the surrounding existing buildings blocked in.  The general idea of looking into the courtyard never changed.

The same model with the underground areas modeled. This was the final viewpoint.

A view from under the large pyramid showing escalators and the spiral stairs going up to the courtyard level.  As with all my rendering work, there is more detail than would ever be needed.

The model seen from the final viewpoint.  This print, about 31 inches wide, will be part of the underlay for the final ink line drawing.

The idea now was to hand draw the existing facades onto the blocked areas of the computer model.  Photos such as that above served as rough underlays to guide the work.

Here is a rough pencil sketch of the combination computer & hand drawing.

And, here is the finished ink line drawing.  The final drawing was ink (using technical pen) on mylar, and was 31" x 15".

 A close-up of the central section.

A detail of the same drawing at something close to the actual size of the final drawing.

Here is a color sketch, approved by the client, and pinned up over my drawing board to keep the final idea in mind.  Obviously, the color and detail will be developed as the final painting is done, but it is always good to have something reminding you what you promised to do.

The ink drawing printed on matte photo paper.  I got in the habit of working on a reproduction, as a safe-guard against some major catastrophe, such as having one of the children drooling on it.  In the worst case scenario I could start again with a complete line drawing.

First, a layer of white sprayed to reduce the lines to grey, and to reduce the chance of oily fingerprints on the paper.  All opaque paint was acrylic airbrush color, "Medea Comart Opaque" in this case.

Now a mask of frisket film is cut covering the building, and the sky is sprayed with ultramarine and red transparent ink. All color spraying used a transparent drawing ink, "Pelikan Drawing Ink A".  In this way the line drawing would show through the color, and I could play down the lines with opaque white, or add to the strength of the line by re-inking later.

The same is done to the blank space at the bottom of the rendering using ultramarine, red and black.

The mask over the building is removed.  The lines on the original art are still clear, in spite of the overexposure of this photo.

A mask is cut so that only the old existing buildings are revealed.

The existing buildings are given a gradual darkening toward the roof, suggesting the lighting which will be coming from the courtyard lamps and the pyramid itself.

The work area.  In an unfinished cabin.  In the Adirondacks.  My wife, Linda, sitting on our bed at the left.  All to remind myself and any reader, that it is you, and not your studio or equipment that count.

The dark tiled roofs are masked and sprayed.

The rendering at this stage with all masking removed.

Mask the existing building and spray with a tan mix of transparent ink.

Further darkening and warming of the building, including the roof areas.  You can see the roof area mask section floating in the sky.

Mask removed.

The ground plane of the courtyard is masked and sprayed.

The rendering "in situ".  Note the color sketch pinned to the wall.  Also, the open window; a necessary bit of ventilation for airbrush work.

The pyramid is masked and sprayed with opaque white to suggest the interior glow of the glass and steel.  One of the most difficult problems in this job was the balancing of the different lighting.  The existing buildings were stone with punched windows, meaning that the stone was warmly lit by the courtyard lighting, while the windows were either dark reflections or brightly lit from within.  The pyramid was a glowing lantern defined by the structural lattice brightly lit inside and darkly silhouetted on the outside.  The interior spacees below ground needed to have a warm, even lighting, as you would expect in a well designed public space.

The structures in the underground areas are masked and sprayed to give form.

Here, considerable hand work has been done, adding people and detail in general.  Also, the pyramid has had its diagonal structural lattice drawn in white opaque paint with a ruling pen.

Further detailing, and the pyramid front face has been given dark lines showing the dark silhouette of the diagonal lattice structure.

On the drawing board.  Almost finished.

Final art, as photographed on the drawing board.

When Pei saw the final he was quite impressed, but he insisted that the fountains be "turned on".  He said that he insisted they turn the actual fountains on every time he visited the Louvre in Paris. This image is from a brochure since I didn't have the time to photograph the final (fountains) version.

The final professionally photographed.

And some detail...

A photograph of a similar view.


- St. Vincent airbrush demo
- Airbrush Demo - Cesar Pelli's Petronas Towers