IM Pei is one of the most renowned names in architecture – the mind behind Paris’s Louvre Pyramid, Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art and Washington’s National Gallery of Art. Now, for the first time, two exhibitions by Qatar Museums are offering a comprehensive retrospective and deep dive into Pei’s life and enduring work.

Born Ieoh Ming Pei in Guangzhou, the Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese-American architect (1917–2019) became known for his fusion of modernist principles with traditional elements, using intricate geometries and a responsive, site-specific approach informed by the culture he was designing for.

Pei has architectural masterpieces across the globe. His final and perhaps most distinctive building is the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) – a minimalist, tiered structure drawing influence from heritage architectural styles across the Middle East and North Africa. Today it is a much-loved landmark of Doha, visited by tourists and locals alike.

IM Pei's original designs for Museum of Islamic Art are on display in Qatar. Photo: Qatar Museums

IM Pei and the Making of the Museum of Islamic Art: From Square to Octagon and Octagon to Circle, jointly organised by MIA, the future Art Mill Museum (AMM) and Alriwaq, delves into the creation of the famed structure, taking visitors through Pei’s creative process and his mission to capture the fundamental essence of Islamic architecture.

Curated by AMM's Aurelien Lemonier and Zahra Khan in collaboration with MIA director of curatorial affairs Mounia Chekhab Abudaya, the exhibition gathers original sketches, models, early photographs and archival documents – many displayed publicly for the first time.

The show unfolds across seven sections, beginning with the 1997 International Architecture Competition – ultimately set aside when Pei agreed to take on the project – to the museum’s 2008 opening and its lasting legacy as a cultural beacon in Doha and beyond. The models and some sketches have been donated permanently to the MIA by Pei’s family.

“Pei was already retired when HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani approached him to do this project. He started travelling around the Islamic world to get some inspiration, as it was a part of the world he had never explored before,” Chekhab Abudaya te