fbpx

Thom Mayne

American

1944, Waterbury, Connecticut

Biography

For Thom Mayne, who founded the Los Angeles-based architecture firm, Morphosis, in 1972, design begins with a series of questions about the relationship between aesthetics, use, and context.

Whether in the form of a city plan, building, or art object, the end product represents Mayne's process of inquiry, rather than a preconceived desire to adhere to the tenets of any particular style.

It is this critical approach, developed amid Southern California's experimental design culture, which has fueled Mayne's wider reputation as the profession's unrelenting provocateur. Accordingly, critics have named him "the bad boy of architecture."

Several of Mayne's seminal projects are located in California; these include the Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, Cal Trans District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Federal Building.

In 2005, Mayne was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the profession's top honor.

Works in the Collection

Please note that artwork locations are subject to change, and not all works are on view at all times. If you are planning a visit to SFMOMA to see a specific work of art, we suggest you contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to confirm it will be on view.

Only a portion of SFMOMA's collection is currently online, and the information presented here is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify collection holdings and artwork information. If you are interested in receiving a high resolution image of an artwork for educational, scholarly, or publication purposes, please contact us at copyright@sfmoma.org.

This resource is for educational use and its contents may not be reproduced without permission. Please review our Terms of Use for more information.