Women’s Table

The Women’s Table, 1993 Maya Lin (b. 1959; B.A. 1981, M.Arch. 1986, D.F.A. 1987) Location: Rose Walk, by Sterling Memorial Library


Women's TableMaya Lin’s monument-making began during her undergraduate years at Yale, with her 1981 design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Like the black wall of names cutting into the grassy Mall, the simple granite blocks of Lin’s Women’s Table organically emerge from the pavement as both a lament and a tribute.

The most visible sign of the commemoration of women at Yale, the Women’s Table was designed by Maya Lin (BA 1981, M.Arch 1986), best known as the creator of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. The ambiguity of the sculpture inspires contemplation—and sometimes even interaction. Tour guides stand on the tabletop to speak to large groups, children run their hands through the water and splash each other, members of the Yale community bring visitors by, leaning in close to guess the meanings of the numbers. As Lin has said of her work: “I consider the monuments to be true hybrids, existing between art and architecture. They have a specific need or function, yet their function is purely symbolic.

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