At the beginning, I thought the best Islamic work was in Spain - the mosque in Cordoba, the Alhambra in Granada. But as I learned more, my ideas shifted. I traveled to Egypt, and to the Middle East many times.I found the most wonderful examples of Islamic work in Cairo, it turns out. I'd visited mosques there before, but I didn't see them with the same eye as I did this time. They truly said something to me about Islamic architecture.
architecture cairo city east egypt example eye found granada i-m-pei ideas islamic middle middle-east mosques said spain traveled turns wonderful

About This Quote

About I.M. Pei

I.M. Pei was a 20th-century American american architect. Ieoh Ming Pei was a Chinese-American architect. Born in Guangzhou into a Chinese family, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. Read more on Wikipedia →

More quotes by I.M. Pei

“Architecture is the very mirror of life. You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.”
— I.M. Pei
architecture buildings i-m-pei life

“Great artists need great clients.”
— I.M. Pei
architect architecture art artist

“I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.”
— I.M. Pei
architecture art city foundation

“Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but its not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I dont want to ...”
— I.M. Pei
architect architecture contemporary-architecture evolution

“I want to bring out the best in a community and contribute something of permanent value.”
— I.M. Pei
architect architecture city community

“Stop worrying about missed opportunities and start looking for new ones.”
— I.M. Pei
architect architecture city i-m-pei
View all quotes by I.M. Pei →

Related Quotes

“Thus nature provides a system for proportioning the growth of plants that satisfies the three canons of architecture. All modules are isotropic and they are related to the whole structure of the pl...”
— Jay Kappraff, Connections: The Geometric Bridge Between Art & Science
architecture golden-mean golden-ratio nature

“We therefore find that the triangles and rectangles herein described, enclose a large majority of the temples and cathedrals of the Greek and Gothic masters, for we have seen that the rectangle of ...”
— Samuel Colman, Harmonic Proportion and Form in Nature, Art and Architecture
architecture design golden-ratio harmony

“I saw cities, and roads of marvelous construction. I saw cruelty and greed, but I've seen them here too. I saw a people live a life that was strange in many ways, but also much the same as anywhere...”
— Anthony Ryan, Queen of Fire
architecture bad cities city

“Love the life you have been given. And be humbled by it. It is not to be despised.”
— G. Willow Wilson
cairo humility life love

“Cairo is in a state of becoming We just don't know what it's becoming yet.”
— Daniel Joseph Monti, Michael Ian Borer, Lyn C. Macgregor
cairo city egypt transformation

“I was born in a slum, but the slum wasn't born in me.”
— Jesse Jackson
cairo cities city egypt

“But youre out of another world old kid You ought to live on top of the Woolworth Building in an apartment made of cutglass and cherry blossoms.”
— John dos Passos
city city-life manhattan-transfer nature

“[Poem: Slates of Grey]Sullen faces like slates of greyWhat Id seen on a walk today.Bodies rushing bodies boltingTime for life a disregarding.Money to make and to grow oldWhat about the hands to hol...”
— Jess C. Scott, Trouble
city city-life happiness job

“I would describe the distinction between city and landscape like this: cities tend to excite and agitate me; they make me feel big or small, self-confident, proud, curious, excited, tense, annoyed....”
— Peter Zumthor
city nature time