Topologies

by Maya Lin, John McPhee (Foreword), Michael Brenson (Text)

The first comprehensive monograph on the acclaimed American artist and architect, known for her environmental works and memorials that distill a tranquil yet texturally rich minimalism. Maya Lin is one of the most important public artists of this century. As an architecture student at Yale, Lin designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a class project, entering it in the largest design competition in American history. Her winning proposal, a V-shaped wall of black stone etched with the names of 58,000 dead soldiers, has since become the most visited memorial in the nation's capital.

This visually rich volume presents 50 projects from the last three decades that demonstrate the scope of Lin's creative process, featuring her own sketches and drawings and linked by her ideal of making a place for individuals within the landscape. With her environmental works Storm King Wavefield, Eleven-Minute Line (Sweden), and Pin River–Yangtze (Beijing), Lin maintains a balance between art and architecture, drawing inspiration from culturally diverse sources.

From the moment she entered the national spotlight with her design for the Vietnam Memorial, Lin has been proposing ways of thinking and imagining that resist categories, genres, and borders.

Genres: Art, Architecture, Design, Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Maya Ying Lin (Chinese name 林璎, born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She came to fame as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Chris Leuchtenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I am stunned, captivated and touched to the heart by a work of art, it is usually a performance of classical music. But Maya Lin is spectacular. Her memorials, parks and architecture leave me speechless.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you admire Lin' work as I do this is an excellent book containing information and photos of all her public work and some of her private commissions. Well-produced.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of beautiful pictures of her work. I appreciated reading the article that she wrote in order to win the compettiion to complete the Washington memorial. The articles that were included failed to capture the majesty or deepen my understanding of her work.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another of my random discoveries at the library; I checked it in and it looked interesting. My initial impression was of various landscape art and manipulations of natural materials reminded me a bit of the work of Andy Goldsworthy, whose work I have also encountered through library books. Finding images of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial both surprised me, since I hadn't known anything of its origin, and convinced me the book was worth looking at.

Though I enjoyed the works depicted in the book, I felt like the accompanying text often highlighted aspects of the works that were not evident in the pictures, making clear the limits of their depiction. Also, the incredibly understated nature of the works led me to a questioning of the nature of artists and how works are framed by the narrative that surrounds them and the mythology of the artist. How different are her land waves from the work of a landscape architect making a pleasing spread of lawn with a gentle rise? And on the Columbia River project, she notes that much of the work was removing invasive species and renovating the natural habitats, which feel like very basic ideas. This isn't a knock against her, but more a complaint about how society views things, that though there is great and obvious beauty in the understated and in creating things that fit with the natural world, it is only appreciated by having the work presented as the creation of an Artist.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maya Lin designed the Vietnam war memorial in D.C. I recently watched a video about her career and had no idea how much controversy she had to field and all while she was a 20 year old student at Yale. Her winning design for the memorial was something many people opposed and also many people helped her bring into being.
This book is a lovely introduction to her whole body of work. Very impressive

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct infromative introductory texts and overview essays. Picture selection could be better and labels would enhance understanding. Captures monumental stature of both works and ideas behing the installations.

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally not a big fan of her work, but there's no denying she's a genius.