CHIEN PEI

PEI--Chien Chung. Chien Chung Pei passed away at his New York City home on December 12, 2023. Known as "Didi" to his family and friends, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 7, 1946, the second son of Eileen Loo Pei and the architect, Ieoh Ming ("I. M.") Pei. Raised in New York City, Didi attended Collegiate School, graduating from Phillips Academy in 1964, and then Harvard, where he studied math and physics, receiving his B.A. in Physics in 1968 while also participating in the Harvard Signet, Yearbook, and playing clarinet in the Bach Society Orchestra. Undergraduate courses in art and architectural history, and an interest in art and design inspired by family summer- long trips to France and Italy subsequently led him to study at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he received his M. Arch. degree in 1972. Didi began his professional career at I. M. Pei & Partners, working on projects including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, the West Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, and the Grand Louvre in Paris. It was during this pivotal time in Paris that Didi met Beatrice Philippe, whom he married in 1989, cementing what would become a love affair with France and French culture that the couple would go on to share with their daughter, Olivia, and twin sons, Malcolm and Edward, born in 1989 and 1992, respectively. While raising their children in New York, the peripatetic couple ensured that the family would continue to spend frequent holidays in France and around the world each year. In 1992, Didi and his brother, Li Chung Pei, launched their own firm, Pei Partnership Architects, now PEI Architects, where his various projects included the Suzhou Museum in China and the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar. Didi's many passions included Chinese culture, travel, art, fine food, photography, classical music, cycling, classic cars and, perhaps most especially, the rarified world of fine Bordeaux wines. These, along with his trilingual fluency in English, Chinese, and French, abiding good spirit, charm, and quick wit gathered to him a wide circle of international friends and colleagues from diverse fields beyond architecture. Didi devoted much time to organizations important to him, including the Century Association, serving on the Board of Collegiate School, as Chairman of the Delano and Aldrich Fellowship Committee of the American Institute of Architects, as Chairman of New York's China Institute for over ten years, and as a dedicated member of the Committee of 100, the Chinese-American organization founded by his late father and Dr. Henry Kissinger. In 2007, Didi was awarded the UCLA Medal for design excellence for the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The pinnacle, however, of Didi's many interests was his active participation in the elite Commanderie de Bordeaux, which provided him the greatest satisfaction and joy, whether as the gracious host or appreciative guest of many splendid and convivial dinners with his fellow oenophiles. It is perhaps unsurprising then that, amongst Didi's many projects, it is his redesign of the stunning Chateau Lynch-Bages Winery in Pauillac, France that most eloquently embodies the marriage of the personal and professional in his oeuvre. His elegant conversion of a collection of warehouse structures into a state-of-the-art, multi-use center that smartly encompasses all aspects of wine-making under one roof is both a perfect expression of Didi's passions and a fitting legacy. Didi is survived by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, two sons, and one grandchild. In lieu of flowers, the family requests with deep appreciation that donations be made to two of his most cherished organizations, the Young Concert Artists (yca.org/support) and China Institute (chinainstitute.org).