Vietnam War Memorial Essay

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Built on 1982, the Vietnam War was still ‘fresh’ on the minds of the pieple, especially those who participated on it. Battle scars, physically, mentally and emotionally, were not yet healed. The building of the memorial may have triggered negative emotions since the Americans lost the war. Instead of a symbol to honor the dead soldiers, it may be seen as symbol of USA’s loss. Another issue was that the veterans who decided to create a memorial were only one of the different factions of veterans. For others, building a memorial may not be the best way to honor these soldiers. Their conflicts stem from the different interpretations that they had, which is very usual in an artwork. The Vietnam War Memorial was established in 1982 and designed…show more content…
The addition of a site visit to examine the context of a project draws Lin to a further understanding of the project as a whole. However, initial form resolution is not a conscious step in her process. Lin allows the idea to take sub-consciously. In architecture, Lin must create space that represents her client, as opposed to the self-expression that ark work allows. The work of Lin revolves around crucial awareness, not just the awareness of physical context, but also the awareness of psychological aspects relating to the site or installation. An emotional reaction becomes a viable reason for creating an artwork. In evoking an emotional response from the visitor, her intent is to create a sense of place, unencumbered with detail; the landscape must be allowed to remain integral to the project, rather than dominate it. The work must belong to the land and remain in harmony with the site as first seen. The meaning of the memorial was so great that Maya Lin’s minimalist design was enough for people to remember their loved ones. Having the names of the dead soldiers on a chronological order was also a central issue. This emphasized the ‘wall’ was for personal grieving as it needed a personal connection to the dead for you to know his death

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