Greg Lynn (born 1964) is an American
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, founder and owner of the Greg Lynn FORM office, an o. University Professor in the Institute of Architecture at the
University of Applied Arts Vienna
The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university sta ...
and a professor at the
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLA Arts) is a professional school at the University of California, Los Angeles. Through its four degree-granting departments, it provides a range of course offerings and programs. Additionally, th ...
. He is CEO and co-founder of the Boston based robotics company Piaggio Fast Forward. He won a
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
at the 2008
Venice Biennale of Architecture
Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian
Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...
. In 2010 Lynn was named a fellow by
United States Artists
United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards.
Mission
The organization' ...
. He is a member of the board of trustees of the
Canadian Centre for Architecture
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between r ...
.
Life and works
Lynn was born in
North Olmsted, Ohio
North Olmsted is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,442. North Olmsted is a west side suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and is the 8th most populated city within Cuyahoga County.
History
...
, and claims always to have wanted to be an architect. "When I was twelve, I could already construct perspective drawings and draw
axonometric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of orthographic projection used for creating a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated around one or more of its axes to reveal multiple sides.Gary R. Bertoline et al. (2002) ''Technical Graphi ...
s", says Lynn. "In high school, someone taught drafting and in the first day of class they saw that I could do all these constructed drawings. I started picking oddly-shaped objects like threaded cones and I would try to draw them in two-point perspective. I got into drawing as a kind of sport." Lynn graduated ''
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...
in Ohio with degrees in architecture and philosophy and from
Princeton University School of Architecture
Princeton University School of Architecture is the name of the school of architecture at Princeton University. Founded in 1919, the School is a center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory. The School offers an und ...
with a
Master of Architecture
The “Master of Architecture”(M.Arch or MArch) or a “Bachelor of Architecture” is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that res ...
. He is distinguished for his use of
computer-aided design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
to produce irregular,
biomorphic
Biomorphism models artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices.
History
Within the c ...
architectural forms, as he proposes that with the use of computers,
calculus
Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...
can be implemented into the generation of architectural expression. Lynn has written extensively on these ideas, first in 1993 as the editor of an ''
Architectural Design
Building design refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licensed architect. Smaller, less complic ...
'' special issue called "Folding in Architecture". In 1999, his book ''Animate FORM'', funded in part by the
Graham Foundation
The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts is a 501(c)3 non-profit that “fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Graham realize ...
focused on the use of animation and motion graphic software for design. His book, ''Folds, Bodies & Blobs: Collected Essays'', contains the republished essay from ''
ANY'' magazine "Blobs, or Why Tectonics is Square and Topology is Groovy" in which he coined the term "blob architecture" later to become "
blobitecture
Blobitecture (from blob architecture), blobism and blobismus are terms for a movement in architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped, building form. Though the term ''blob architecture'' was in vogue already in the mid-1990s, t ...
" popularized in a ''
New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' article "
On Language
''On Language'' was a regular column in the weekly ''New York Times Magazine'' on the English language discussing popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics. The inaugural column was published on February 18, 197 ...
: Defenestration" by
William Safire
William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He w ...
. The 2008 book ''Greg Lynn FORM'', edited with Mark Rappolt, includes contributions by his colleagues, collaborators and critics including
Ross Lovegrove
Ross Lovegrove (born 1958 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh artist and industrial designer.
Biography
Ross Lovegrove was born in Wales in 1958. He studied at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), graduating with a Fi ...
,
Jeffrey Kipnis,
Chris Bangle
Christopher Edward Bangle (born October 14, 1956) is an American automobile designer. Bangle is known best for his work as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars.
Early life
Bangl ...
,
Sylvia Lavin
Sylvia Lavin is a Professor of History and Theory of Architecture at Princeton University, School of Architecture. She was previously the head of the Ph.D. in Architecture program from 2007-2017 and Professor of Architectural History and Theory at ...
, Imaginary Forces,
Peter Schröder,
Bruce Sterling
Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre.
Sterling's first ...
,
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass medi ...
,
Brian Goodwin
Brian Carey Goodwin (25 March 1931 – 15 July 2009) (St Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada - Torbay, Devon, UK) was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a founder of theoretical biology and bio ...
and
Ari Marcopoulos
Ari Marcopoulos (born Aristos) is an American self-taught photographer, adventurer and film artist. Born in the Netherlands, he is best known for presenting work showcasing elusive subcultures, including artists, snowboarders and musicians. He liv ...
. He was one of the earliest teachers to explore the use of the digital technology for building design and construction when he was teaching "Paperless Studios" with
Hani Rashid
Hani Rashid (born 1958 in Cairo) is an architect and educator. He co-founded the New York-based architecture firm, Asymptote Architecture with Lise Anne Couture.
Early life and education
Hani Rashid was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1958, his famil ...
and
Stan Allen
Stan Allen (born 1956) is an American architect, theorist and former dean of Princeton University School of Architecture.
Biography
He received a B.A. from Brown University, a B.Arch. from Cooper Union and an M.Arch. from Princeton Universit ...
while
Bernard Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French-S ...
was dean of
from 1992 to 1999. He was professor of spatial conception and exploration at the
ETH Zurich Faculty of Architecture
Founded in 1854, the Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) at ETH Zurich in Switzerland is an architecture school in Zürich, providing education in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. It has arou ...
from 1999 to 2002 and was Davenport Visiting Professor at the
Yale School of Architecture
The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...
from 1999 to 2016.
Lynn's New York Presbyterian Church in
Queens, New York
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...
, with
Douglas Garofalo,
Michael McInturf is an early project which used vector-based animation software in its design conception. He was profiled by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine in their projection of 21st-century innovators in the field of architecture and design.
Lynn's latest works begin to explore how to integrate structure and form together as he discovered some
biomorphic
Biomorphism models artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices.
History
Within the c ...
forms are inherently resistant to load. He often experiments with methods of manufacturing from the
aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...
, boat building and automobile industries in his installations such as
Swarovski
Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.
The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...
crystal sails and HSBC Designers Lounge for 2009
Design Miami
Design Miami/ is an American design company that holds two annual flagship collectible design fairs in Miami, Florida and Basel, Switzerland. Design Miami/ also holds fairs in Paris and Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronuncia ...
, ''Bubbles in the Wine'' installation at the
Grimaldi Forum
The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco is a conference and congress centre located on the seafront of Monaco's eastern beach quartier, Larvotto. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra regularly perform there. This is also the ...
in Monaco, 1999 ''The Predator'' at
Wexner Center for the Arts
The Wexner Center for the Arts is the Ohio State University's "multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art". The Wexner Center opened in November 1989, named in honor of the father of Limite ...
with
Fabian Marcaccio, 2002 ''Expanding the Gap'' installation at Eigelstein 115 (
Martin Rendel and René Spitz) with
Ross Lovegrove
Ross Lovegrove (born 1958 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh artist and industrial designer.
Biography
Ross Lovegrove was born in Wales in 1958. He studied at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), graduating with a Fi ...
and
Tokujin Yoshioka
is a Japanese designer and artist.
He is active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, and he is internationally acclaimed for his works dealing with light and nature.
Many of his works chosen as part of permanent collect ...
, and in his industrial design projects like the super formed titanium
Alessi Tea and Coffee Towers of 2003 and the
Vitra Ravioli Chair. Working with Panelite his studio invented a hollow plastic brick called the Blobwall and using an
upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...
approach to design and materials is repurposing children's toys as the building bricks for ''Recycled Toys Furniture'', and a ''Fountain of Toys'' at the
Hammer Museum
The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...
by scanning
rotomolded plastic toys, composing them on a computer, cutting them with a five-axis
CNC router and assembling them into welded monolithic objects. The Bloom House includes curvaceous interior elements and windows, built in plastics, fiberglass and wood all using this software and CNC controlled machines for its fabrication.
Publications
*''Animate FORM'', Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 1999 & 2011
*''Folding in Architecture: Architectural Design Profile 102'', Academy Editions, London, 1995
*''Folds, Bodies & Blobs: Collected Essays'', La Lettre volée, Brussels, 1998
*''Archaeology of the Digital'', Sternberg Press co-publisher with Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2013
*''Greg Lynn FORM'', with Mark Rappolt, Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2008
*''Log 36: Robolog'', with Cynthia Davidson, Anyone Corporation, New York, 2016
*''Composites, Surfaces and Software: High Performance Architecture'', with
Mark Foster Gage
Mark Foster Gage (born November 22, 1973) is an American designer, theoretician, theorist and founder of Mark Foster Gage Architects in New York City. He is a tenured associate professor and former assistant dean, from 2010 to 2019, at the Yale ...
, Yale School of Architecture, New Haven, 2011
*''Architectural Laboratories'', with Hani Rashid, NAI Publishers, Rotterdam, 2003
*''Architecture for an Embryologic Housing'', IT Revolution in Architecture
*''Intricacy'', with Claudia Gould, ICA Philadelphia, 2003
Selected exhibitions
Other Space Odysseys: Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan, Alessandro Poli Montreal,
Canadian Centre for Architecture
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between r ...
, April 8 to September 19, 2010
Archaeology of the Digital Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, May 7 to October 13, 2013
Close-Up Southern California Institute of Architecture
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than t ...
, Los Angeles, March 11 to May 29, 2016 (includes projects by Greg Lynn)
A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...
, June 16 to September 16, 2016 (includes 11 projects by Greg Lynn FORM)
* Archaeology of the Digital: Complexity and Convention,
Yale School of Architecture
The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...
References
External links
*
*
Greg Lynn: What is architecture?Embryological House websiteTea and Coffee TowersGreg Lynn on Empty Canon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Greg
1964 births
Living people
American architects
Miami University alumni
People from North Olmsted, Ohio
Princeton University School of Architecture alumni
Yale School of Architecture faculty
Academics of the University of Applied Arts Vienna
ETH Zurich faculty