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Maya Ying Lin[mI´u] Pronunciation Key, 1959–, American architect and sculptor, b. Athens, Ohio. From an artistically distinguished Chinese family who emigrated to the United States in the 1940s, Lin was catapulted to national prominence while still an undergraduate at Yale when her magisterially simple design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (completed 1982) won a national competition. She cemented her status as a major figure with her sculptural design for the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama (1989) and a monument commemorating coeducation at Yale (1991). More recently she has also executed other kinds of architectural projects, e.g., several private houses and the Museum of African Art (1993) and a huge clock at Pennsylvania Station (1994), both in New York City. She also designs furniture, and her sculpture has been widely exhibited. Whatever the context or scale of the work, Lin is known for her visual poetry and sensitive mingling of highly abstract form with meaning.
See Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (documentary film, 1995).
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