一塊是蘇州“圣地”，一位是以“蘇州人”而自豪的世界建筑大師，這就珠聯(lián)璧合地造就了一座傳世之作：蘇州博物館新館。

2006年中秋佳節(jié)，天高氣爽，當(dāng)“最鐘愛的小女兒”在世界遺產(chǎn)拙政園和全國重點(diǎn)文保單位忠王府西側(cè)揭開神秘面紗的時候，90高齡的貝聿銘笑了，笑得那么暢懷。翹首期盼的蘇州人也永遠(yuǎn)記住了這一天：2006年10月6日。

大師以一貫的嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)作風(fēng)說：“對一座建筑的評價需要時間?！比欢髱煂α艚o家鄉(xiāng)的這件作品，用的是“非常滿意”作自我評價。蘇州博物館新館開館兩個月來，游人如織，為的是目睹大師這件“中而新，蘇而新”的完美之作。

“中而新，蘇而新”

新館占地1萬多平方米，建筑面積近2萬平方米，采用地下一層、地面一層為主的結(jié)構(gòu)方式。新館建筑群坐北朝南，中央部分為入口、中央大廳和主庭院；西部為主展區(qū)；東部為次展區(qū)和行政辦公區(qū)。這種以中軸線對稱的東、中、西三路布局，與東側(cè)的老館忠王府格局相互映襯，十分和諧。新館建筑群中還設(shè)有影視廳、多功能廳、商場等。

“中而新，蘇而新”是貝聿銘最早就確定、也是得到國內(nèi)眾多建設(shè)大師贊同的設(shè)計理念，這一理念在新館建筑上得到了充分體現(xiàn)。熟知貝老設(shè)計的美國大都會博物館東方部主任屈志仁和貝氏建筑事務(wù)所的林兵等先生解釋說，“蘇”主要體現(xiàn)在與蘇州古城風(fēng)貌和人文內(nèi)涵的融合；“新”主要體現(xiàn)在用材上。大師用他的智慧和獨(dú)特的設(shè)計風(fēng)格，使“新”充滿了“蘇味”，變成了創(chuàng)新的“蘇”和創(chuàng)新的“中”。

貝聿銘酷愛三角幾何造型。三角形作為新館突出的造型元素和結(jié)構(gòu)特征，表現(xiàn)在建筑的各個細(xì)節(jié)之中。新館建筑群現(xiàn)代幾何形坡頂體現(xiàn)了錯落有致的江南斜坡辟頂建筑特色，它與周邊建筑的融合，使貝老十分高興。新館保持了傳統(tǒng)的粉墻黛瓦色調(diào)，而屋頂采用加工成菱形的“中國黑”花崗石片，黑中帶灰的“中國黑”，淋了雨是黑的，太陽一照變成深灰色。深灰色石材的屋面和墻體邊飾與白墻相配，為粉墻黛瓦的江南建筑符號增加了新的詮釋內(nèi)涵。

“宋畫齋”是新館中唯一一處以傳統(tǒng)手法營造的展廳。宋代木結(jié)構(gòu)的古建筑，現(xiàn)存不多，只能從古人留下的畫作和資料中去找，這也是“宋畫齋”一名的由來?！罢{(diào)素琴，閱金經(jīng)”的宋代民居陋室，是貝聿銘與東南大學(xué)建筑系教授朱光亞結(jié)成的共識，他要讓這間屋子本身成為展品，展示中國傳統(tǒng)的建筑藝術(shù)。

在新館設(shè)計中，貝聿銘充分考慮了蘇州的人文內(nèi)涵，借鑒了蘇州古典園林的風(fēng)格。庭園中的竹和樹，姿態(tài)優(yōu)美，線條柔和，在與建筑剛?cè)嵯酀?jì)的對比中，產(chǎn)生了和諧之美。紫藤園西南方的那棵紫藤，是貝聿銘親自在光福苗圃園里選中的，還嫁接著從文徵明當(dāng)年手植的紫藤上修剪下來的枝蔓，以示延續(xù)蘇州文化的血脈。貝聿銘十分得意于自己這一創(chuàng)意：“當(dāng)人們坐在紫藤架下喝茶時，我們可以說，這棵紫藤有文徵明手植紫藤的基因，你是坐在文徵明手植紫藤的子孫藤下喝茶呢！這不又是一景了嗎？”

通過內(nèi)庭院將內(nèi)外空間串連，使自然融于建筑，是貝聿銘建筑設(shè)計的一個特色。最讓大師煞費(fèi)苦心的是位于中央大廳北部的主庭院的設(shè)置。這座在古典園林元素上精心打造出的創(chuàng)意山水園，“以壁為紙，以石為繪”，高低錯落排砌的片石假山，在朦朧的江南煙雨籠罩中，營造出了米芾水墨山水畫的意境。當(dāng)問及為何不采用傳統(tǒng)的太湖石時，貝聿銘曾說過，傳統(tǒng)假山藝術(shù)已無法超過。一輩子創(chuàng)新的大師，不愿步前人的后塵。

濃濃家鄉(xiāng)情

有著2500年歷史的蘇州，是座舉世聞名的歷史文化名城。貝氏家族移居蘇州有300年歷史，美麗的家鄉(xiāng)給青少年的貝聿銘留下溫馨而難忘的記憶。

與故鄉(xiāng)再度牽手是貝聿銘赴美求學(xué)60余年后的1996年4月16日，家鄉(xiāng)的父老鄉(xiāng)親在貝氏故居獅子林內(nèi)為貝老先生舉辦了八十壽誕大慶。在親朋好友濟(jì)濟(jì)一堂的歡樂氣氛中，貝聿銘愉快地接受了蘇州市城市規(guī)劃顧問的聘請。

當(dāng)新博物館在2000年被提上議事日程，蘇州的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)立即想到了擅長設(shè)計博物館的大師貝聿銘，他們多么想讓貝老能為家鄉(xiāng)留下一個傳世之作??！可是貝老已是耄耋之年，且路途遙遠(yuǎn)，他能答應(yīng)么？果然，貝聿銘婉言相告：自己年事已高，他讓三公子貝禮中任董事長的貝氏事務(wù)所承接這個項(xiàng)目。但是后來當(dāng)貝老得知新館館址定于世界遺產(chǎn)拙政園、獅子林以及全國重點(diǎn)文物保護(hù)單位太平天國忠王府相鄰之處時，不禁脫口而出：這可是塊“圣地”啊，這個事情我的兒子是做不出來的，因?yàn)樗涣私馓K州。貝老這一說，讓蘇州鄉(xiāng)親看到了“一絲希望”。

2002年農(nóng)歷大年初七，蘇州政府代表團(tuán)一行5人來到紐約，受到貝老熱情接待，洗塵的午宴竟吃談了兩個多小時。爾后代表團(tuán)來到貝老辦公室時，意外地看到四周墻上掛滿了蘇州博物館新館的資料，桌子上竟然還有一座新館地塊的模型，這使代表團(tuán)驚喜不已，深感貝老對蘇州新館已經(jīng)有所思考了！在代表團(tuán)要求下，貝聿銘終于答應(yīng)邀請赴蘇州參加簽約儀式。

2002年4月貝聿銘再次回到故鄉(xiāng)蘇州。他仔細(xì)察看了新館址的四周古建筑及民居歷時兩個多小時，他虛心傾聽了建筑、園林和文物專家參加的兩個“專家晤談會”，在傾聽了張開濟(jì)、吳良鏞、周干峙、齊康、羅哲文、陳薇等大師們的發(fā)言后，貝聿銘動了真情，他說：“我退休12年了，今天對我來講，這是一個很大的挑戰(zhàn)。蘇州是我的故鄉(xiāng)，我接受這個挑戰(zhàn)，這是我最后的挑戰(zhàn)，也是最難的挑戰(zhàn)。”并提出晚上他要親自簽約。他從顧問變?yōu)橛H自操刀，這令蘇州的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)喜出望外！事后記者曾問過貝豐銘，是否因?yàn)榧亦l(xiāng)才接受這個挑戰(zhàn)，貝老說：“那當(dāng)然！”

貝先生回美國后，整整半年閉門謝客，連事務(wù)所的人也不讓進(jìn)。他還一會兒一個電話給事務(wù)所，要這樣那樣的資料，甚至唐詩宋詞和昆曲曲譜、劇本演出光盤等吳文化資料。在美國找不到，他就請?zhí)K州寄快遞，他還要求蘇州方面將博物館3萬余件館藏文物分類介紹的材料寄給他，以便“量體裁衣”。他有時晚上睡覺時突然來了靈感，竟深更半夜翻身下床伏案工作直至凌晨。事務(wù)所的林兵、司徒佐先生告訴我，這些是他們從來沒見到過的。

11月上旬，貝聿銘終于完成了他的概念性方案和初步設(shè)計，并制成了1∶300的模型。他通知蘇州方前往“驗(yàn)收”，并將圖紙及方案分別寄給參加“晤談會”的諸位國內(nèi)大師，親筆修書敬請他們“不吝賜教”。

貝先生的設(shè)計理念讓蘇州代表團(tuán)由衷的佩服和震撼，并深得國內(nèi)設(shè)計大師的贊許和肯定，除了與貝先生進(jìn)行個別細(xì)部的探討外，他們一致認(rèn)為這確實(shí)是一件不可多得的珍品，完美地達(dá)到了“晤談會”上眾多專家提出的希冀和要求。他們認(rèn)為，若干年后，這將是蘇州又一座“世界文化遺產(chǎn)”。

蘇州博物館新館傾注了貝聿銘近5年的心血。2003年12月參加奠基儀式后，大師又先后3次親臨指導(dǎo)，每天都要在工地上待6個小時，這種認(rèn)真態(tài)度被建筑工人昵稱為“貝館長”。開館前，貝聿銘提前半個月到蘇州，抵達(dá)的第2天就在工地上從上午10時工作到晚上11時半。

暢談“新”理念

大師“故鄉(xiāng)赴新約”，筆者與大師有過接觸與交談，這是謝絕媒體采訪的大師對《文匯報》和我這位家鄉(xiāng)人的厚愛?！爸卸拢K而新”是新蘇博的設(shè)計理念，其實(shí)也是大師一貫的設(shè)計理念。大師說建筑設(shè)計要因地制宜，他在各個地方做的都不相同。大師正是以他獨(dú)到的設(shè)計理念、獨(dú)特的設(shè)計風(fēng)格和作品的無窮魅力享譽(yù)全球，受到世人敬仰。

大師說，他的根在中國，在蘇州。他希望中國的現(xiàn)代建筑能保留中國的特色，多次表達(dá)了他的“個人意見”。他說，中國建筑如何把傳統(tǒng)與現(xiàn)代結(jié)合好，要走的路還很長。要努力理解中國傳統(tǒng)建筑的內(nèi)涵，而不是只利用傳統(tǒng)建筑的一些符號。他還說，中國的建筑在發(fā)展，引進(jìn)了很多新的東西，也請了很多國際建筑大師來做，問題在于這些國際建筑大師是否真正了解中國的歷史文化。

也許，大師希望中國的現(xiàn)代建筑是“中而新”，大師深感滿意的蘇博新館，對中國的建筑界是否也有一些啟迪呢？

（本文攝影 鄭紅）

Architect and Museum in His Hometown

By Zhu Jinlong

On October 6， 2006， the 90-year-old Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei attended the unveiling ceremony of Suzhou Museum， which he designed for his second hometown. The new museum is located in an old section of Suzhou， an ancient city near Shanghai.The renowned architect lovingly named the museum his “most beloved， youngest daughter”. Although Master Pei insists that only time can correctly evaluate an architectural work the residents of Suzhou think differently. Since its opening to public， they have kept coming to admire the masterpiece.

The local people love it for a reason. The Pei family has been in Suzhou for more than 300 years， though such a short family history in Suzhou sounds nothing if compared with the 2，500-year history of the ancient city. When the idea of building a new museum in the old city first came up， the local people had reasons to expect that I. M. Pei would probably like to design the new museum for his hometown， who had been an advisor to the city government for the urban planning since 1996.

In 2000， the local government approached the master to consider creating a legacy for Suzhou. The master hesitated that he was probably too old to do the job and suggested that the New York-based Pei Partnership Architects， helmed by his sons， could best do the job. But after learning that the new museum would be built in the old section of the city adjoining a complex of 19th-century historical structures and two gardens， “Humble Administrator’s Garden” and “Lion Grove”， listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites， the master commented that as it was a “hallowed ground” for such a museum， his sons probably could not be up to such a challenge because they did not know very much about Suzhou. This remark gave the local government some hope that the master would go out of retirement and get into action again.

Seven days after the Spring Festival in 2002， a delegation of five people sent by the Suzhou government arrived in New York to meet with I.M. Pei. They came to the master’s office， where beyond all expectations， the visitors saw references， drawings on the walls and a site model on a table and they immediately recognized that all this was about the new museum. They were overjoyed that the master had been thinking about it. The master agreed to attend the signing ceremony to be held in Suzhou.

In April， 2002， I. M. Pei came to Suzhou. He did a field study around the new site for two hours and then listened to local master architects carefully at two professional seminars on the museum project. Excited， Pei decided to come out of retirement and meet the challenge. He wanted to be the designer. He confessed， “I have been retired for 12 years， but today I want to rise to the challenge. Suzhou is my hometown and I accept this challenge. The last challenge will be the toughest one.”

Back in New York， the master shut himself up in his office. He did not even admit his colleagues from the architect firm into his office. He called the firm frequently for reference materials， including poetries of the Tang (6108-960) and Song (960-1279) dynasties， and compact discs of Kunqu Opera plays. If information on some subjects about Suzhou was not available in USA， he would get it from the Suzhou Government by express delivery. He asked Suzhou Museum for complete information on categories of more than 30，000 exhibits in the museum’s collections. The master dedicated himself enthusiastically for six months. Sometimes he would get up at midnight to jot down his inspiration. His assistants commented that they had never seen the master working like this.

In the early November 2002， Master Pei completed a conceptual design and a preliminary design. A 1:300 model was made. He sent drawings and documents to all those masters who had attended the two forums in April for their comments and suggestions. He asked the Suzhou Government to send a delegation again to New York to inspect the preliminary work.

The experts involved unanimously agreed that it was a perfect design and well embodied all the considerations that had come up at the forums， though a few tiny details needed to be further discussed.All of them were of the same opinion that this new museum would be another world cultural heritage in the future.

In an interview， Master Pei mentioned several times the Chinese elements in architectural designs. With his roots in China and in Suzhou， the master wished that the modern Chinese architecture could maintain Chinese essence. The principle embodied in the design of the new Suzhou Museum was it should be Chinese， it should be Suzhou and it should be original.

Ieoh Ming Pei put his heart and soul into the new museum in Suzhou. He not only arrived for the groundbreaking ceremony in December 2003， but also came to the construction site three times for inspection during the building period. And every time he spent more than 6 hours a day at the site. Half a month before the museum was scheduled to open to the public， the master arrived in Suzhou and worked for more than 12 hours at the museum the next day.

The museum is something the Suzhou residents have never seen before but feel quite familiar with. Pei， who loves geometrical forms， applied his geometrical ideas to the new museum which blends well with the surrounding delicate gardens and low-rise brick residences. The museum highlights the traditional white-wall black-roof motif that typifies the architectural style of the southern Yangtze River delta. The gardens fully highlight the finest elements of Suzhou which is renowned for its style of exquisite gardens. The 15，000-square-meter museum has exhibition galleries， an auditorium， a museum shop， administrative and curatorial offices， a research library study center and extensive art storage facilities and several gardens.

(Translated by David)