Sculptor and architect Maya Lin is best known as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington, DC. Conceived as a place for personal reflection and healing, the v-shaped incision in the landscape was harshly criticized by some who favored a figurative monument. Today, the memorial is the most popular in Washington, and is visited by more than a million visitors annually. Inscribed with the names of the 58,000 servicemen killed or missing in Vietnam, the memorial has indeed become what Lin anticipated: a sanctuary for both grief and reconciliation. Although made wary of celebrity by the controversy that surrounded her throughout the construction and unveiling of the memorial, Lin regularly produces works at the public scale. In addition to her uncommon sensitivity to site and social context, critics routinely call attention to Lin's ability to erode the boundaries that have traditionally existed between architecture and sculpture.

Maya...