The Suzhou Museum in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, specializes in ancient Chinese art, paintings, calligraphy and handmade crafts. The Suzhou-born, Pritzker Prize-winning architect I. M. Pei designed the new building with Pei Partnership Architects. Construction began in 2002, and it opened on October 6, 2006. The museum itself was founded in 1960 in the former residence of Zhong Wang, a general in the Taiping Rebellion.
Pei's design blends traditional Chinese elements with modern materials. Sloping roofs, a black, white and gray palette and white stucco walls reflect local Suzhou architecture. A steel frame replaces traditional wooden beams. The main courtyard is a landscaped garden with ponds, bridges, octagonal pavilions and a bamboo forest, and it borders the Humble Administrator's Garden.
The collection includes roughly 30,000 objects.
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