Over the weekend the renowned architect I. M. Pei passed away at the age of 102. He’s behind some of the worlds iconic buildings like the Louvre’s glass pyramid and the Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, but what few people know is that he also designed an apartment building here in Kuwait. Back in the lates 70s I. M. Pei designed what are now the Massaleh towers in Bneid Al Gar. You’ve probably driven past them and never realized the architectural importance of them but I think that applies to a lot of old buildings in Kuwait. In this specific case though, it’s also difficult to find information about these buildings online, most likely because of the age of the project and the different names it goes by. For example, on the I.M. Pei website they’re listed as “Hilton Area Housing” and in the book “Modern Architecture Kuwait” they’re listed as “Hilton Hotel Apartments”.
I heard one rumor that the reason there isn’t much information is because I. M. Pei was upset with the project. Supposedly he had originally designed just one tower but then his design was taken and replicated to create the remaining towers. But, don’t think this rumor is very accurate since the model pictured above which contains all four tower blocks is listed on his website as one of his projects.
Here is the link to I. M. Pei’s page of Kuwait projects. There is another project listed there but no idea what that is or if it had ever been constructed.
Photo on top taken by Nelson Garrido
14 replies on “I. M. Pei Was Here”
Holy fucking shit really?!
That’s incredible! I had no idea.
Then again, I also had no idea that Yasser Arafat designed some of the roads here in Kuwait too.
We need to learn more about our country.
Really? Thats so random
Random facts are the best though right?
Here’s an NPR article I found that talks about it briefly:
https://www.npr.org/2004/11/11/4129396/palestinian-leader-yasser-arafat-dies-at-75
Not sure Arafat designed but he definitely built, he was employed at the Ministry of Public Works
Now it’s going to get demolished soon
No it’s not… it’s fully inhabited and thriving, one of the best places to live in Kuwait City
When it’s going to be demolished, there’s now a reason for architect crybabies.
Read above! It is privately owned and will not be demolished
IF WHEN IT’S DEMOLISHED
It was a joke
Hey Mark,
heard Arabella is closing down, any news why?
They’re not closing down its just a rumor. They’re repositioning themselves though.
They just opened Future Kid there, don’t think they’d open anything if its closing down.
I lived here in the late 90’s (was in tower 8) and my dad’s company was actually in charge of Al Tameer towers. Pretty sure the story is that the Al Tameer towers side were the original plan and then they just copy and pasted the Massaleh Towers side. Alway loved the floorplan of these flats. There are 5 different layouts in each tower.