Sunday Flashback Bonus: I.M Pei, Oklahoma City, Life Magazine, 1965
In the 1960s Life Magazine was the big dog in the media world – bigger than Time, bigger than Newsweek, bigger than anything. Even a mention in Life was something pretty special. So when I learned Life magazine issues were now available for browsing via Google, I looked for Oklahoma City.
Nov. 24, 1965 issue of Life Magazine
And I found something. Nothing puts the city’s hiring of I.M. Pei in 1964 in context better than this 1965 article which explored the movers and shakers behind the remake over cities around the world (click below image twice to see full size)
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Comments
By the way Steve, the quote seems to fly in the face of most of the downtown changes that the OKC community tends to hold Pei responsible for. What should we make of that?
It’s not a surprise to me at all. Something I discovered while researching OKC Second Time Around is that a lot of mythology had developed around what I.M. Pei did or didn’t do.
Here are some of the conclusions we came to in our book:
- I.M. Pei urged city leaders not to remove Main Street and its retail tenants until a new site could be found for the retailers. His advice was ignored in the interest of expediency.
- I.M. Pei drew every sketch, created every model of the Myriad Gardens to have the Biltmore Hotel incorporated into the gardens, not torn down. The owners ultimately forced the city into a position of tearing it down.
- I.M. Pei, however, does appear to have gotten it wrong in terms of urban design. His designs were in conflict with the teachings and thoughts of William Whyte, who warned against the creation of “blank walls.” (I wrote about Whyte in the planning for the future series on this blog a few months ago.
Wow. What a great find Steve. I know Pei is pretty villified in OKC (rightly or somewhat wrongly), but that quote could not be more timely for Oklahoma City, in the middle of its current downtown Renaissance.