Editing I. M. Pei (section)

=== 1948–1956: early career with Webb and Knapp ===
In the spring of 1948, Pei was recruited by New York real estate magnate [[William Zeckendorf]] to join a staff of architects for his firm of [[Webb and Knapp]] to design buildings around the country. Pei found Zeckendorf's personality the opposite of his own; his new boss was known for his loud speech and gruff demeanor. Nevertheless, they became good friends and Pei found the experience personally enriching. Zeckendorf was well connected politically, and Pei enjoyed learning about the social world of New York's city planners.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 48–49.</ref>

His first project for Webb and Knapp was an apartment building, which received funding from the [[Housing Act of 1949]]. Pei's design was based on a circular tower with concentric rings. The areas closest to the supporting pillar handled utilities and circulation, and the apartments themselves were located toward the outer edge. Zeckendorf loved the design and even showed it off to Le Corbusier when they met. The cost of such an unusual design was too high, however, and the building never progressed beyond the model stage.<ref>Wiseman, p. 51.</ref>

[[File:131 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta - I.M. Pei building.JPG|thumb|left|Pei's first project (1949): [[131 Ponce de Leon Avenue]], Atlanta|alt=131 Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta]]

Pei finally saw his architecture come to life in 1949,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcf-p.com/a/f/fme/imp/p/p.html|title=I. M. Pei|website=pcf-p.com}}</ref> when he designed a two-story [[131 Ponce de Leon Avenue|corporate building for Gulf Oil]] in [[Atlanta]], Georgia. The building was demolished in February 2013 although the front façade was retained as part of an apartment development. His use of marble for the exterior [[curtain wall (architecture)|curtain wall]] brought praise from the journal ''Architectural Forum''.<ref>Wiseman, p. 52.</ref> Pei's designs echoed the work of [[Mies van der Rohe]] in the beginning of his career as also shown in his own weekend-house in [[Katonah, New York]] in 1952. Soon, Pei was so inundated with projects that he asked Zeckendorf for assistants, which he chose from his associates at the GSD, including [[Henry N. Cobb]] and [[Ulrich Franzen]]. They set to work on a variety of proposals, including the [[Roosevelt Field (Shopping Mall)|Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall]] on [[Long Island]]. The team also redesigned the Webb and Knapp office building, transforming Zeckendorf's office into a circular space with [[teak]] walls and a glass [[clerestory]]. They also installed a control panel into the desk that allowed their boss to control the lighting in his office. The project took one year and exceeded its budget, but Zeckendorf was delighted with the results.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 53–54.</ref>

[[File:L'Enfant Plaza - IMG 1926.JPG|thumb|Pei wanted the open spaces and buildings of [[L'Enfant Plaza]] to be "functionally and visually related" to one another.<ref>Quoted in Wiseman, p. 61.</ref>|alt=The L'Enfant Plaza complex of office buildings. Two buildings are visible, arranged around a courtyard.]]

In 1952, Pei and his team began work on a series of projects in [[Denver|Denver, Colorado]]. The first of these was the Mile High Center, which compressed the core building into less than 25 percent of the total site; the rest is adorned with an exhibition hall and fountain-dotted plazas.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 57–58.</ref> One block away, Pei's team also redesigned Denver's Courthouse Square, which combined office spaces, commercial venues, and hotels. These projects helped Pei conceptualize architecture as part of the larger urban geography: "I learned the process of development, and about the city as a living organism."<ref name="vb52">Boehm, p. 52.</ref> These lessons, he said, became essential for later projects.<ref name="vb52" />

Pei and his team also designed a united urban area for Washington, D.C., called [[L'Enfant Plaza]] (named for French-American architect [[Pierre Charles L'Enfant]]).<ref name="PeiLenfant">Williams, 2005, p. 120; Moeller and Weeks, 2006, p. 59.</ref> Pei's associate [[Araldo Cossutta]] was the lead architect for the plaza's North Building and South Building.<ref name="PeiLenfant" /> [[Vlastimil Koubek]] was the architect for the East Building ([[L'Enfant Plaza Hotel]]), and for the Center Building (now the [[United States Postal Service]] headquarters).<ref name="PeiLenfant" /> The team set out with a broad vision that was praised by both ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and ''[[Washington Star]]'' (which rarely agreed on anything), but funding problems forced revisions and a significant reduction in scale.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 60–62.</ref>

In 1955, Pei's group took a step toward institutional independence from Webb and Knapp by establishing a new firm called I.&nbsp;M. Pei & Associates. (The name changed later to I.&nbsp;M. Pei & Partners.) They gained the freedom to work with other companies, but continued working primarily with Zeckendorf. The new firm distinguished itself through the use of detailed [[architectural model]]s. They took on the [[Kips Bay]] residential area on the [[East Side (Manhattan)|East Side]] of [[Manhattan]], where Pei set up [[Kips Bay Towers]], two large long towers of apartments with recessed windows (to provide shade and privacy) in a neat grid, adorned with rows of trees. Pei involved himself in the construction process at Kips Bay, even inspecting the bags of cement to check for consistency of color.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 62–64.</ref>

The company continued its urban focus with the [[Society Hill]] project in central [[Philadelphia]]. Pei designed the [[Society Hill Towers]], a three-building residential block injecting cubist design into the local 18th-century milieu. As with previous projects, abundant green spaces were central to Pei's vision, which added traditional [[townhouse]]s to aid the transition from classical to modern design.<ref>Boehm, p. 51.</ref>

From 1958 to 1963, Pei and [[Ray Affleck]] developed a key downtown block of [[Montreal]] in a phased process that involved one of Pei's most admired structures in the Commonwealth, the cruciform tower known as the Royal Bank Plaza ([[Place Ville Marie]]). According to ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]'' : {{blockquote|its grand plaza and lower office buildings, designed by internationally famous US architect I. M. Pei, helped to set new standards for architecture in Canada in the 1960s ... The tower's smooth aluminum and glass surface and crisp unadorned geometric form demonstrate Pei's adherence to the mainstream of 20th-century modern design.<ref>The Canadian Encyclopedia online version</ref>}}

Although those projects were satisfying, Pei wanted to establish an independent name for himself. In 1959, he was approached by MIT to design a building for its [[Earth science]] program. The [[Green Building (MIT)|Green Building]] continued the grid design of Kips Bay and Society Hill. The pedestrian walkway on the ground floor, however, was prone to sudden gusts of wind, which embarrassed Pei. "Here I was from MIT," he said, "and I didn't know about [[wind-tunnel]] effects."<ref>Quoted in Wiseman, p. 67.</ref> At the same time, he co-designed the [[Luce Memorial Chapel]] at [[Tunghai University]] in [[Taichung]], Taiwan<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->. The soaring structure, commissioned by the same organization that had run his middle school in Shanghai, broke severely from the cubist grid patterns of his urban projects.<ref>Wiseman, p. 67.</ref><ref>Wiseman, pp. 66–68.</ref>

The challenge of coordinating those projects took an artistic toll on Pei. He found himself responsible for acquiring new building contracts and supervising the plans for them. As a result, he felt disconnected from the actual creative work. "Design is something you have to put your hand to," he said. "While my people had the luxury of doing one job at a time, I had to keep track of the whole enterprise."<ref>Quoted in Wiseman, p. 69.</ref> Pei's dissatisfaction reached its peak at a time when financial problems began plaguing Zeckendorf's firm. I.&nbsp;M. Pei and Associates officially broke from Webb and Knapp in 1960, which benefited Pei creatively but pained him personally. He had developed a close friendship with Zeckendorf, and both men were sad to part ways.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 69–71.</ref>