Maya Lin

Maya Ying Lin (Chinese: 林瓔; pinyin: Lín Yīng; 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. She has an older brother, the poet Tan Lin. In 1981, while still an undergraduate at Yale, Lin 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. Although best-known for historical memorials, Lin is also known for environmentally themed works that 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".