Maya Lin
1959–
Introduction
Maya Ying Lin (Chinese: 林瓔; born October 5, 1959) is an American architect, designer and sculptor. Born in Athens, Ohio to Chinese immigrants, she attended Yale University to study architecture. In 1981, while still an undergraduate at Yale she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The memorial was designed in the minimalist architectural style, and it attracted controversy upon its release but went on to become influential. Lin has since designed numerous memorials, public and private buildings, landscapes, and sculptures. In 1989, she designed the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. She has an older brother, the poet Tan Lin.
Although best known for historical memorials, she is also known for environmentally themed works, which often address environmental decline. According to Lin, she draws inspiration from the architecture of nature but believes that nothing she creates can match its beauty. She also draws inspirations from "culturally diverse sources, including Japanese gardens, Hopewell Indian earthen mounds, and works by American earthworks artists of the 1960s and the 1970s".
Wikidata identifier
Q235063
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed December 4, 2024.
Introduction
American sculptor and architect, best known for the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial (1981-1983) on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Lin was still a student when her design was chosen from a competition of 142 entries for a memorial to commemorate those who fought and died in the War and to ease tensions the War had provoked among the American public, government leaders, and war vetreans. The memorial consists of a large, reflective granite wall, lowered into the earth to symbolize a scar, and inscribed with the names of the dead. She is also known for her Civil Rights Memorial (1989), a large granite fountain, in Montgomery, Alabama.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, architect, sculptor
ULAN identifier
500001306
Names
Maya Lin, Maya Ying Lin, 林璎
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed December 4, 2024.
