Final answer:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed by Maya Lin is a contemporary minimalist memorial that represents the shift in war commemoration practices and has influenced modern memorial design.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., designed by Maya Lin, is an example of a contemporary memorial. Unlike traditional memorials that may feature grand statues or extensive ornamentation, Lin's design is minimalist and introspective. It consists of a simple V-shaped wall of polished black granite, with the names of American servicemen and women who were killed or went missing during the Vietnam War inscribed on its surface. The wall cuts into the earth, creating a somber and reflective space that encourages personal reflection and communal mourning.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial symbolizes a shift in how war is commemorated and represents a new approach to national monuments that is starkly different from the grandiosity of earlier memorials, such as those with marble statues that have been damaged by acid rain. Lin's work has not only created a profound place for remembrance but has also inspired the design of other memorials, conveying the evolving practices in the contemporary nation-building process in the United States.