Maya Lin Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1981 83 United States Granite

National memorial in washington d c.

Maya lin vietnam veterans memorial 1981 83 united states granite. 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. 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 vietnam veterans memorial is a 2 acre 8 000 m u s. A chinese american lin was born in ohio where her parents.

Two polished black granite walls chronologically listing 57 692 names of the dead form a great. Maya lin was still an undergraduate at yale university when she beat out over 1 400 competitors in a competition to design the 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.

Maya lin s original competition submission for the vietnam veterans memorial in washington d c. As a senior at yale university lin entered a nationwide competition sponsored by the vietnam veterans memorial fund and her design was selected from the more than 1 400 submissions that were received. Veterans search for the names of soldiers etched in granite on the vietnam veterans memorial. Maya lin s vietnam veterans memorial 1980s in 1979 congress grants a vietnam war veterans committee the right to build a memorial on the mall in washington d c dedicated to american soldiers.

Room in may 1981 and informed the 21 year old that she had won the design and the 20 000 first. 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. It honors service members of the u s. The daughter of intellectuals who had fled china in 1948 lin received a bachelor s degree in 1981 from yale university in new haven.