The Chinese-born American architect Ieoh Ming Pei is one of the most prolific¹ architects of our times. He has incorporated² both eastern and western ideas into his designs.

Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou， China on April 26， 1917. His father was a prominent（著名的） banker. In 1935， at age 17， he came to the United States to study architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While Pei initially（最初地） intended to return to China following his education， Japan's invasion of China sparked（觸發(fā)） a war between the two nations. As a result， Pei remained in the United States. In 1942， he entered the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

In 1964， Jacqueline Kennedy selected Pei to design the Kennedy library. After that he became well-known all of the world. People named it one of the Ten Best Buildings in the United States. In 1968， Pei initiated³ work on the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art， in Washington D.C.. Over one million people visited the building during its first 50 days in existence.

Following the East Wing project Pei's stature has continued to grow immensely （極大地）. In 1983， French President commissioned（委托）Pei to help make the Louvre⁴ more modern. Ten years later， the completion of Pei's glass pyramid at the Louvre created a new historic landmark（有歷意義的建筑物） for Paris. Pei described it as， \"the greatest challenge and greatest accomplishment (成就) of my career.\" At Fragrant Hill( 北京香山 )， a 300-room hotel in the Chinese capital， Pei has attempted to bring to his native China his often-quoted⁵ \"third way of making buildings.\" Avoiding both an outright (完全的) copying of traditional Chinese motifs(特色) as well as the modernism of the West， Pei has managed， at Fragrant Hill， to make one of his most eloquent（有說服力的） statements.

Pei has designed nearly 50 projects in the United States and abroad. Over half of these projects have won major awards. Pei has been awarded the highest honors from nations the world over. In 1990， Pei was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President George Bush for his contributions to world peace and service to the U.S. government. However， Pei has not limited his contributions to the world to architecture alone. Pei used the $100，000 prize from the Pritzker award that he won in 1983 to establish a scholarship fund for Chinese architecture students to study in the United States， with the stipulation(約定) that the students return to work China to work in architecture.

注釋：

1．prolific adj．富于創(chuàng)造力的

2．incorporate vt．把…合并，使并入

3．initiate vt．開始，發(fā)起

4．Louvre 盧浮宮（原為法國(guó)王宮，1793年辟為國(guó)立美術(shù)博物館）

5．quote vt．引用，引述

中國(guó)出生的美籍建筑學(xué)家貝聿銘是我們這個(gè)時(shí)代最富于創(chuàng)造力的建筑師之一。他把東西方的理念都融入了其建筑設(shè)計(jì)之中。

貝聿銘1917年4月26日出生于中國(guó)廣州。他的父親是位著名的銀行家。1935年，17歲的貝聿銘前往美國(guó)麻省理工學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)建筑學(xué)。最初他準(zhǔn)備返回中國(guó)繼續(xù)自己學(xué)業(yè)，然而日本入侵中國(guó)引發(fā)了兩國(guó)之間的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，結(jié)果貝聿銘只得留在美國(guó)。1942年他進(jìn)入哈佛大學(xué)設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)研究生院深造。

1964年，杰奎琳·肯尼迪夫人（美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)肯尼迪的妻子）選中貝聿銘設(shè)計(jì)肯尼迪圖書館，貝聿銘由此蜚聲世界，該建筑被人們稱為全美“10大最佳建筑”之一。1968年，貝聿銘著手設(shè)計(jì)華盛頓特區(qū)的國(guó)家美術(shù)館東館，在該美術(shù)館建成后頭50天里，就有超過100萬人參觀了這座建筑。

華盛頓國(guó)家美術(shù)館東館的建成使貝聿銘的聲望再一次獲得極大提升。1983年法國(guó)總統(tǒng)委托貝聿銘幫助使盧浮宮變得更加現(xiàn)代化。10年后，一座由貝聿銘設(shè)計(jì)的玻璃金字塔在盧浮宮落成，它成了巴黎具有歷史意義的新地標(biāo)。貝聿銘將其稱作“我職業(yè)生涯中最大的挑戰(zhàn)和最輝煌的成就”。在建造北京香山飯店——位于中國(guó)首都的一座擁有 300個(gè)房間的飯店的時(shí)候，貝聿銘嘗試著把他經(jīng)常引用的“第三條建筑道路”帶回祖國(guó)。貝聿銘使香山飯店成為了自己最有說服力的代表作之一，他既沒有完全照搬中國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)格也沒有一味模仿西方的現(xiàn)代風(fēng)格。

貝聿銘在美國(guó)和國(guó)外共設(shè)計(jì)了近50座建筑。其中超過一半獲得了各類重要大獎(jiǎng)。他本人也被全球許多國(guó)家授予了最高榮譽(yù)。1990年，美國(guó)總統(tǒng)喬治·布什向貝聿銘頒發(fā)了自由勛章，以表彰他為世界和平以及美國(guó)政府做出的貢獻(xiàn)。然而，貝聿銘對(duì)世界所做的貢獻(xiàn)并不局限于建筑領(lǐng)域。他將自己于1983年獲得普里茨克獎(jiǎng)時(shí)所得的 10萬美元設(shè)為獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，以資助學(xué)習(xí)建筑學(xué)的中國(guó)學(xué)生到美國(guó)留學(xué)，條件是受助學(xué)生要返回中國(guó)并從事建筑業(yè)。