Lin, Maya (1959- ), American architect and sculptor, noted for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982) in Washington, D.C. The memorial is composed of two long, black granite walls that cut into the ground and meet at a 125 degree angle. As visitors approach the memorial down a sloping walkway that runs along each wall, they can see their reflections on the polished stone surface. Engraved on the walls are the names of 58,191 American servicemen and women who died in the Vietnam War (1959-1975) or are considered missing in action.
Lin, who was born in Athens, Ohio, won a competition for the design of the memorial while still an undergraduate architecture student at Yale University. She received her B.A. degree from Yale in 1981 and a master of architecture degree from the Yale School of Architecture in 1986. She then moved to New York City, where she has worked on both sculpture and architectural projects.
Other public monuments designed by Lin include the Civil Rights Memorial (1988-1989) in Montgomery, Alabama, which honors 40 people who lost their lives between 1954 and 1968 in support of the civil rights movement, and The Women’s Table (1990-1993), in honor of Yale University’s women graduates. Like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, both of these monuments employ dark polished stone with a surface that reflects the viewer and is engraved with text. These works also incorporate water, which flows over the stone surfaces, creating a fountain.
Lin’s architectural projects include a collaboration with architect William Bialosky in the design of the Weber House (1991-1993), a private residence in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Lin’s curvilinear design for the roof echoes the rolling contours of the nearby Berkshire Mountains. Lin also designed renovations for the Museum of African Art (1992-1993) in New York City.
Many of Lin’s smaller sculptural projects utilize such unusual materials as wax, lead, and glass. Shattered safety glass, which she first used in small-scale sculptures, also became part of a large-scale sculpture entitled Groundswell (1993), commissioned by the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Groundswell called for 43 tons of glass, dispensed by a hopper suspended from a crane. Haphazard piles of broken glass accumulated on the ground below the hopper.
Lin has been awarded honorary doctorate of fine arts degrees by her alma mater, Yale University, and by Williams College and Smith College, both in Massachusetts.
