National Gallery of Art – East Building
I. M. Pei · Washington, DC, United States · 1978
I. M. Pei organized the East Building around the difficult trapezoidal site by dividing it into interlocking triangular geometries. A monumental atrium links exhibition towers with bridges, stairs and suspended circulation beneath a large space-frame roof. The Tennessee marble exterior relates materially to the older National Gallery while the angular plan creates a distinctly late-modern spatial experience. Opened in 1978, the building is among Pei’s most important museums and a highly influential example of geometry driving both structure and visitor movement.