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The legacy of American architect I.M. Pei stretches from west to east, from the Louvre museum to his native China, where he helped fuse tradition with modernity as the country opened up after the Cultural Revolution.

Pei died earlier this week at the age of 102. He added elegance to landscapes worldwide with powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces.

Born in southern China, he migrated to the United States and was one of the first overseas architects to visit China during its initial period of opening up. Tan Xin, who worked with him in the early 1980s, said he helped Chinese architects imagine how to modernize while retaining traditional elements.