Maya Lin was an undergraduate at Yale when she designed the award winning Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington D.C. Her designs are subtle and elegant, floating somewhere between art and architecture. The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial references the landscape, a theme which reoccurs in her work. I recently saw an exhibition of her large scale topography sculptures, which abstract ideas about the forms of a landscape, and turn them into powerful works of art. “Maya Lin has an extraordinary ability to convey complex and poetic ideas using simple forms and natural materials.” arcspace.com

Stones. Designed by Maya Lin for Knoll’s 60th anniversary.

Moving into a more accessible scale, Maya Lin has created a collection of “Stones“, for Knoll’s 60th anniversary. Stones are available in a range of colors and three materials choices: cast stone, molded polyethylene and molded polyethylene with 100% recycled content. Every surface of a stone is finished, allowing for each piece to be a playful object. Stones have two functional options, a low elliptical table with a slightly convex top and elliptical stools in two sizes, each with a slightly concave seat. Furthering her award counts, Maya Lin Stones have won the Best of Neocon Silver Award and the Good Design Award, Chicago Athenaeum. While sustainability isn’t the focus of this design, I appreciate the inclusion of a 100% recycled content stone.

“At the heart of this furniture collection for Knoll is my love for the land, which can be traced back to my
childhood in the rolling hills of southeastern Ohio,” says Lin. “It goes back to a childhood fascination we all have—that moment when you discover that the earth is round…and you walk around trying to see that curve.”