Locally, Pei designed the former PNC Bank building at Third and Main, across from Courthouse Square in downtown Dayton.
The seven-story building, which opened in 1981, was designed by the famous Chinese American architect whose other work includes the famous glass and metal pyramid entrance at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, the JFK Library in Massachusetts and the east wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
"I admired his longevity in the profession," Matt Sauer, an architect who runs Matthew Sauer Architect, LLC, in Dayton, said of Pei on Thursday evening.
"He was very flexible... He created architecture that was very approachable."
Sauer also mentioned the east wing of the National Gallery of Art as one of Pei's most prominent pieces.
Pei used lots of stone and the work shows how he expressed his interest in the geometric form.
"You can see that in the PNC bank building, in the play in the triangle and the semi-circle." Sauer said.
In October 2017, it was announced that Quebec-based Olymbec bought the building.
Pei, known for his use of modernist architecture in combination with natural elements and open spaces, designed some of the most recognizable buildings in countries throughout the world. Some of Pei's work to be found in the Midwest includes:
The Cleo Rogers Memorial Library in Columbus, Indiana (designed in 1963)
16 FAA air traffic control towers, including Indianapolis International Airport (since demolished)
Indiana University Art Museum at IU-Bloomington (designed in 1978, completed in 1982)
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (designed 1995)
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