I.M. Pei, one of the world’s most famous and greatest architects, dies aged 102.

Ieoh Ming Pei, or simply known as I.M. Pei is a name no stranger to anyone in the architecture field across the world. I’m certain there are a lot of people not within this field do heard of this name before too. He is the man behind some of the world’s most recognizable buildings in the world.

He is one of the earlier architects that I have researched before in my undergraduate study years ago. I have read some architecture books that present some of his best works and I’m very inspired. I did wrote a blog post about this legendary architect two years ago too, in conjunction with his 100th birthday (link: https://vincentloy.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/i-m-pei-an-architect-who-just-celebrated-his-100th-birthday/).

This time around, I’m writing about the news of his death and the huge legacy he left behind in the world of design and architecture. He passed away yesterday at the age of 102.

Here’s come a quick biography; I.M.Pei, a Chinese-American architect was born in Guangzhou in 1917. In 1935, he moved to United States to began his architectural education. His career lasted for over 60 years and he had designed over 70 buildings across the world. Some of his most famous works are as follow:

Mesa Laboratory, Colorado, USA (1967)

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, New York, USA (1973)

John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, USA (1979)

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, USA (1989)

Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, China (1989)

The Gateway, Singapore (1990)

Louvre Pyramid, Paris, France (1993)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ohio, USA (1995)

Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar (2008)

Macao Science Center, Macao, China (2009)

Some awesome buildings, right? His design style is very obvious; his emphasis on strong geometric patterns enable him to create some very distinctive buildings ranging from museums to skyscrapers around the globe. He has won various awards and honors in the past; AIA Gold Medal in 1979, 2010 Royal Gold Medal from Royal Institute of British Architects, 1983 Pritzker Prize, 2003 Henry C. Turner Prize, 1992 Presidential Medal of Freedom, etc.

R.I.P, I.M. Pei. You have been a huge inspiration to me and I hope to be just as half as successful as you are (that would be great already).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Went for early Qing Ming Festival…Hot and tired!

Currently it’s the Qing Ming month in Chinese lunar calendar, and it’s the tradition of many Chinese to pay a visit to graves of deceased ancestors and burn incense and joss sticks to them during the month. It is the tradition of my family too, to two destinations, first is my grandpa’s grave at Hokkien Cemetery, Cheras, and another one is my mom’s one at Nirvana Memorial Park, Semenyih.

We didn’t decide to go early because we are worried by traffic jam caused by more people going in early morning. So, the consequence is that there is no traffic jam at all which is good, but we are going to stand under the scorching heat from the sun in the afternoon for few hours. Umbrella is our best friend at the time. Going down to my grandpa’s grave is quite difficult with the need to climb down a steep slope. Ooppss…I accidentally stepped on an improper grave which I thought that it’s only an empty land there. Sorry for that…

Then, it’s quite a far journey from there to Nirvana Memorial Park, so called the world largest memorial park. It is huge, scenic and beautiful there, and so every plot of land on sale is very costly. It’s serious traffic congestion leading up to the park there, beginning with a temple for Dai Bak Gong and a long dragon sculpture, the icon of the park. As the park is very huge, we have to find the section where my mom’s grave is located. At last, found it! Mom, it’s me…Time to settle all those traditional works; preparing oranges, food, tea, white wine and burning joss sticks, red candles, and incense which includes many paper-made gold and a box of stuff like car, handphone, shirts, etc to my mom. It’s a bit not environmental-friendly but tradition has to be followed somehow.

Yes, finally finished all those stuff, and we have the time to look at the others, especially those with firecrackers explosion that caught our attention. It’s very hot under the bright sun and it’s time to leave. Ohh..it’s already over 2pm, and I just reached home and took bath at 4pm. My body and shirt is full of smell of ashes and even my hand is hurt by the falling hot ashes from joss sticks. More than half of the day is gone for this traditional thing. Luckily, it’s only once in a year.

It’s Easter at West (for Christians), and Qing Ming at East (for Chinese)

First of all, wishing every Christians Happy Easter Day!!! Basically, I do not know much on this special day because I have never celebrate it before, since I’m not a Christian. Anyway, Christians in Malaysia (my country) do not celebrate much on it too.

For Easter Day, there is only one special thing for me, which is to play the special event in Runescape, a free online multiplayer adventurous game. Whenever there is a festival going on, the game will create interesting special event for players to complete and get rewarded with special items. Hence, I did it this year again successfully eventhough there are many assignments waiting for me to complete! Haha…

             

In the East, for the Chinese, Qing Ming Festival comes back! What is it? It is a Chinese ghost festival which we will pay homage to the ancestors or the deceased by cleaning, praying and offering paper stuff to be burnt at the graves.

               

(Picture above from http://www.squidoo.com/tomb-sweeping-day)

As usual, I went for the festival this year. First of all, we went to the Hokkien Cemetery at Cheras to visit my late grandpa. Ohh…my grandpa was quite handsome as seen from his adult picture. It is very difficult to climb down on the steep hill to reach my grandpa’s grave. It is so sunny and quite a chaotic traffic jams in there. Next, we went to visit my late mom, at Nirvana Memorial Park, Semenyih. This is a very huge and famous memorial park built in great feng shui. The feng shui of the area can be felt in the surrounding intensely. Long time didn’t visit my late mom’s grave already…missing my mom so much…it’s been almost three years that she had left us…touching my mom’s picture which is taken during her trip to Fuzhou, China…too sad that I did not accompany her for the trip….I will miss you forever!

Today woke up at 8am for jogging with my dad at Taman Tasik Permaisuri, then breakfast, then proceed to my grandma’s house, then began our Qing Ming Festival, then lunch, then traffic jams….finally, returned home by around 4pm…8 hours gone…very tired, will be consuming another 8 hours of the day before going to sleep…eventhough there are assignments for me to complete, but for tonight, I seriously and desperately need sleep…tomorrow, got class again….