Thom Mayne Biography

Thom Mayne, Architect
Occup.Architect
FromUSA
SpouseBeverly Thorne
BornJanuary 19, 1942
Waterbury, Connecticut
Age82 years
Thom Mayne, a prominent American architect, was born on January 19, 1942, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He grew up in the residential areas of Los Angeles as well as went on to shape the architectural landscape around the world with his innovative as well as unconventional designs. As the co-founder of the style company Morphosis, he developed himself as a leading figure in the area of modern innovative layout.

Mayne obtained his very early education and learning from numerous secondary schools in Southern California before signing up at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1963. During his time there, he became active in the expanding counterculture movement and also was inspired by the importance of social duty in design. He finished from USC with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1968 and also continued to pursue his passion for design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he acquired a Master of Architecture in Urban Design in 1978.

Thom Mayne co-founded the Santa Monica-based design company Morphosis in 1972 with a team of likeminded architects, including Michael Rotondi, who went on to become his long-lasting collaborator. Morphosis quickly established a credibility for its avant-garde method to architecture, pressing the limits of standard design.

A few of Mayne's the majority of noteworthy jobs consist of the Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, California, the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles, and also the San Francisco Federal Building, which showcased his dedication to sustainable design. He likewise made a significant impact on the global building landscape with the Phare Tower in Paris as well as the Giant Group Campus in Shanghai.

Throughout his profession, Thom Mayne has actually been the recipient of countless prominent awards and honors. In 2005, he was awarded the esteemed Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel Prize of Architecture. The jury highlighted his unique technique to layout, which tests traditional building conventions while producing dynamic and appealing areas. His forward-thinking and experimental designs led to Mayne being granted the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2013, adhered to by the Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2020.

Along with his job as an architect, Mayne has been an energetic teacher and advocate for the architectural career. He has held teaching positions at several distinguished institutions, consisting of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, UCLA, Harvard University, and also Yale University. His devotion to promoting the future generation of architects extends to the beginning of the influential study organization, the Now Institute, in 2004.

Throughout his prolific job, Thom Mayne has actually regularly shown his commitment to dealing with complicated social and also environmental problems through innovative design. As a visionary architect, devoted instructor, and also bold influencer worldwide of style, Mayne's heritage continues to motivate those that share his interest for forming the built atmosphere around us.

Our collection contains 20 quotes who is written / told by Thom, under the main topic Architecture.

Related authors: Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

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20 Famous quotes by Thom Mayne

Small: You might say that when you step inside, youre entering a honorific space, but thats something totally
"You might say that when you step inside, you're entering a honorific space, but that's something totally different than experiencing it. And in architecture the experience comes first. That has the deepest effect on us"
Small: We only exist in terms of how we think we exist. Meaning every cultural development is fabricated and c
"We only exist in terms of how we think we exist. Meaning every cultural development is fabricated and can be fabricated"
Small: The multiplicity of ideas is what Im interested in
"The multiplicity of ideas is what I'm interested in"
Small: The huge problem in our society is the enormous ignorance of the ideas that underlie modern art
"The huge problem in our society is the enormous ignorance of the ideas that underlie modern art"
Small: The aesthetic of architecture has to be rooted in a broader idea about human activities like walking, r
"The aesthetic of architecture has to be rooted in a broader idea about human activities like walking, relaxing and communicating. Architecture thinks about how these activities can be given added value"
Small: So we cant go backwards, we can only go where the evolutionary trajectory is taking us and attune our i
"So we can't go backwards, we can only go where the evolutionary trajectory is taking us and attune our ideas about ourselves and our existence to that course"
Small: So I am totally aware that when I defend the autonomy of art Im going counter to my own development.
"So I am totally aware that when I defend the autonomy of art I'm going counter to my own development. It's more an instinctive reaction, meant to protect the private aspect of the work, the part I am most interested in and which nowadays is at risk in our culture"
Small: So at a time in which the media give the public everything it wants and desires, maybe art should adopt
"So at a time in which the media give the public everything it wants and desires, maybe art should adopt a much more aggressive attitude towards the public. I myself am very much inclined to take this position"
Small: Scientific reality is the modern human condition, and you can see that in the symbolic nature of my wor
"Scientific reality is the modern human condition, and you can see that in the symbolic nature of my work"
Small: Our idea of nature is increasingly being determined by scientific developments. And they have become de
"Our idea of nature is increasingly being determined by scientific developments. And they have become decisive for our image of reality"
Small: My buildings dont speak in words but by means of their own spaciousness
"My buildings don't speak in words but by means of their own spaciousness"
Small: Large-scale public projects require the agreement of large numbers of people
"Large-scale public projects require the agreement of large numbers of people"
Small: Its too simplistic to advance the notion of the autonomy of art as a reason for turning away from the p
"It's too simplistic to advance the notion of the autonomy of art as a reason for turning away from the public. You can have autonomy and simultaneously have connections with the social and political world"
Small: Ive learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the
"I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table"
Small: Ive been such an outsider my whole life
"I've been such an outsider my whole life"
Small: Im often called an old-fashioned modernist. But the modernists had the absurd idea that architecture co
"I'm often called an old-fashioned modernist. But the modernists had the absurd idea that architecture could heal the world. That's impossible. And today nobody expects architects to have these grand visions any more"
Small: For me the meaning of my work is much more fluid
"For me the meaning of my work is much more fluid"
Small: Descriptions of my work depress me. They make me feel pinned down
"Descriptions of my work depress me. They make me feel pinned down"
Small: But I absolutely believe that architecture is a social activity that has to do with some sort of commun
"But I absolutely believe that architecture is a social activity that has to do with some sort of communication or places of interaction, and that to change the environment is to change behaviour"
Small: Architecture is involved with the world, but at the same time it has a certain autonomy. This autonomy
"Architecture is involved with the world, but at the same time it has a certain autonomy. This autonomy cannot be explained in terms of traditional logic because the most interesting parts of the work are non-verbal. They operate within the terms of the work, like any art"