Maya Lin Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1981 83 United States Granite

Maya lin s original competition submission for the vietnam veterans memorial in washington d c.

Maya lin vietnam veterans memorial 1981 83 united states granite.

Maya ying lin born october 5 1959 is an american designer architectural designer and artist who works in sculpture and land art she achieved national recognition as a 21 year old undergraduate at yale university when she won a national competition to design the vietnam veterans memorial in washington d c considered to be one of the most influential memorials of the post world war ii. The daughter of intellectuals who had fled china in 1948 lin received a bachelor s degree in 1981 from yale university in new haven. Maya lin american architect and sculptor concerned with environmental themes who is best known for her design of the vietnam veterans memorial in washington d c. Lin s minimal plan was in sharp contrast to the traditional format for a memorial which usually included figurative heroic sculpture the design aroused a great deal of controversy.

Veterans search for the names of soldiers etched in granite on the vietnam veterans memorial. Selected anonymously in 1981 from a competition with more than 1 400 entries the scheme possessed a brilliant clarity. Architectural drawings and a one page written summary 1980 or 1981. It honors service members of the u s.

Out of the nearly fifteen hundred entries in the competition the eight jurors of the selection committee unanimously chose maya lin s design on may 6 1981. Two polished black granite walls chronologically listing 57 692 names of the dead form a great. A chinese american lin was born in ohio where her parents. Given its near universal acclaim today it s difficult to recall the controversies surrounding maya lin s design for the vietnam veterans memorial in washington d c.

Maya lin was still an undergraduate at yale university when she beat out over 1 400 competitors in a competition to design the memorial. The vietnam veterans memorial is a 2 acre 8 000 m u s. National memorial in washington d c. Room in may 1981 and informed the 21 year old that she had won the design and the 20 000 first.