Dome

Entrance courtyard with Great Hall at right; Designed by Ieoh Ming Pei in association with Pei Partnership Architects. Pei's family came from Suzhou originally. The museum has over 15,000 objects (including crafts and Neolithic archeological finds), 70,000 books and documents, and over 20,000 rubbings of stone inscriptions. The collection of paintings and calligraphy includes works of masters from the Song to Ming and Qing dynasties. The museum includes 5,000 m2 exhibit space, a 200-seat auditorium, library, art storage and administrative areas. It adjoins the landmarked Zhong Wang Fu, a complex of 19th-century historical structures, and the Garden of the Humble Administrator. The museum design is based on Suzhou's traditional architecture, with its whitewashed plaster walls, dark grey clay tile roofs and intricate courtyard and garden architecture. These elements have been reinterpreted and synthesized in a contemporary manner (substituting steel and stone). There are three courtyard gardens in the complex. Source: Pei Partnership [firm website]; http://www.peipartnership.com/ (accessed 6/18/2014)