Few architects have been as widely celebrated yet as narrowly understood as I. M. Pei. His legacy is often distilled into a handful of sleek, geometric landmarks—the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, DC, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong—each reinforcing the image of Pei as a master of precision and balance. Life Is Architecture, however, moves beyond these familiar icons, tracing Pei’s evolution from a developer’s architect to a master of cultural and material negotiation. Through archival research and a nuanced reading of his career, the book presents Pei not just as a designer of buildings, but as a figure navigating power, history, and innovation across vastly different contexts.