Similar to Philip Johnson’s Glass House, this hyper-minimalist box was built by Pei in 1952 as his own weekend getaway. Nestled on a hilltop in Katonah, New York, the house enjoys seemingly endless panoramic views, despite being just an hour out of New York City.

The second of only three private residences designed by Pei, the William Slayton House was completed in 1958 for a Washington, D.C. developer. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, the house has 3,300 square feet beneath a vaulted concrete roof.

In 1964, Pei began formulating a plan to redevelop the downtown core of Oklahoma City, aimed at addressing a lack of parking and restrictive lot sizes. The highly controversial plan called for demolishing hundreds of historic buildings and met much public opposition, but by 1980, the plan was largely realized.

Completed in 1978, Pei’s Dallas City Hall was designed as an inverted pyramid, a reflection of the space requirements—small for the public-facing offices on the ground floor, large for the administrative offices above. The glassy design also literally reflected an image of the city and people entering the seat of government.

Still the tallest building in New England, the building formerly known as the John Hancock Tower was actually designed by Pei’s partner Henry Cobb, but the controversy, stemming from cost overruns and glass-panel failures after its 1976 opening, fell squarely on Pei. 

Linked to the original National Gallery of Art building by an underground passageway, Pei’s East Building combines intimate gallery spaces with a soaring central atrium that’s home to a giant Alexander Calder sculpture. Finished in 1978, the building recently reopened after a $69 million renovation.

In the late 1970s, Pei returned to his native China to design the Fragrant Hill Hotel, a luxury hotel amid the former imperial hunting grounds on the outskirts of Beijing. A surprisingly traditional structure, the hotel was completed in 1982 and in 1984 won an AIA National Honor Award.

Despite his growing popularity and success, Pei and his firm found themselves caught up in yet another controversial project with the Javits Convention Center in New York City. Due to cost overruns, the compromised design satisfied neither the architects nor the city of New York, which mentioned neither Pei nor project architect James Freed at the building’s dedication.

Completed in 1989 and currently ranked among the finest orchestra halls in the world, the Meyerson Symphony Center was designed by Pei in conjunction with acoustics expert Russell Johnson. Seventy-four 2.5-ton concrete doors, 56 acoustical curtains, and a system of canopies are all used to improve acoustics.

Far and away Pei’s most famous commission, this glassy pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre was notoriously controversial at the time of its 1989 completion. Today, the pyramid is an icon, and Pei’s innovative underground lobby design has become the model for several historic adaptations around the world.

Designed in collaboration with Frank Williams and frequent client William Zeckendorf, the Four Seasons Hotel New York is the second tallest hotel in New York and is topped by the epic Ty Warner Penthouse Suite, which I.M. Pei renovated in 2004. That suite now goes for $50,000 a night.

After a series of high-brow commissions, Pei brought the sloping-glass theme to Cleveland with his design for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Opened in 1995, the building houses gallery space, offices, and a concert venue.

Undeterred by age, in 2005 Pei plunged himself into the design for the Museum of Islamic Art, which he said would be his last major cultural building. The remarkable stacked-box design occupies a purpose-built manmade island in the Doha harbor.