Editing I. M. Pei (section)

=== NCAR and related projects ===
[[File:National Center for Atmospheric Research - Boulder, Colorado.jpg|thumb|left|alt=The Mesa Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a series of brown boxlike buildings, stands in front of a mountain.|Pei said he wanted the [[Mesa Laboratory]] of the [[National Center for Atmospheric Research]] to look "as if it were carved out of the mountain".<ref name="vb60">Boehm, p. 60.</ref>]]

Pei was able to return to hands-on design when he was approached in 1961 by [[Walter Orr Roberts]] to design the new [[Mesa Laboratory]] for the [[National Center for Atmospheric Research]] outside [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]], Colorado. The project differed from Pei's earlier urban work because it rested in an open area in the foothills of the [[Rocky Mountains]]. He drove around the region with his wife, visiting assorted buildings and surveying the natural environs. He was impressed by the [[United States Air Force Academy]] in Colorado Springs, but felt it was "detached from nature".<ref>Boehm, p. 59.</ref>

The conceptualization stages were important for Pei, presenting a need and an opportunity to break from the Bauhaus tradition. He later recalled the long periods of time he spent in the area: "I recalled the places I had seen with my mother when I was a little boy—the mountaintop Buddhist retreats. There in the Colorado mountains, I tried to listen to the silence again—just as my mother had taught me. The investigation of the place became a kind of religious experience for me."<ref name="vb60" /> Pei also drew inspiration from the [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]] cliff dwellings of the [[Ancestral Puebloans]]; he wanted the buildings to exist in harmony with their natural surroundings.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 75–76.</ref> To this end, he called for a rock-treatment process that could color the buildings to match the nearby mountains. He also set the complex back on the mesa overlooking the city, and designed the approaching road to be long, winding, and indirect.<ref>Wiseman, p. 80.</ref>

Roberts disliked Pei's initial designs, referring to them as "just a bunch of towers".<ref>Quoted in Wiseman, p. 79.</ref> Roberts intended his comments as typical of scientific experimentation, rather than artistic critique, but Pei was frustrated. His second attempt, however, fitted Roberts' vision perfectly: a spaced-out series of clustered buildings, joined by lower structures and complemented by two underground levels. The complex used many elements of [[cubism|cubist]] design, and the walkways were arranged to increase the probability of casual encounters among colleagues.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 73, 86, and 90; Boehm, p. 61.</ref>

[[File:Palm court 1995.jpg|thumb|alt=The New College of Florida campus. In front of a dormitory building to the right is a grid of palm trees arranged in a tiled courtyard.|As with NCAR, Pei combined elements of cubism and natural harmony when designing the dormitories at [[New College of Florida]] in the mid-1960s.<ref>Wiseman, p. 94.</ref>]]

Once the laboratory was built, several problems with its construction became apparent. Leaks in the roof caused difficulties for researchers, and the shifting of clay soil beneath the building caused cracks which were expensive to repair. Still, both architect and project manager were pleased with the final result. Pei referred to the NCAR complex as his "breakout building", and he remained a friend of Roberts until the scientist died in {{Nowrap|March 1990}}.<ref>Wiseman, pp. 91 and 74.</ref>

The success of NCAR brought renewed attention to Pei's design acumen. He was recruited to work on a variety of projects, including the [[S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications]] at [[Syracuse University]], the [[Everson Museum of Art]] in [[Syracuse, New York]], the [[Sundrome]] terminal at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]] in New York City, and dormitories at [[New College of Florida]].<ref>[http://www.ncf.edu/about-us/history History]. 2009. New College of Florida. Retrieved November 12, 2009.</ref>