Recognition long overdue: posthumous honor for Lin Huiyin, a pioneer of Chinese architecture
Lin Huiyin's graduation photo. She was awarded a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.
After almost a century, Lin Huiyin, a Chinese architecture student at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) between 1924 and 1927, will be awarded a long-overdue Bachelor of Architecture diploma by the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.
"At the May 18, 2024, Weitzman Commencement Ceremony, the School will award Lin, arguably the first and most famous female architect in modern China, a long-overdue posthumous Bachelor of Architecture degree," stated an article titled "An Architectural Pioneer Receives Her Due," published by Penn on Sunday.
Lin Huiyin (left) and Liang Sicheng on the Temple of Heaven in Beijing in 1936.
Lin Huiyin, along with her husband Liang Sicheng, who was also a renowned Chinese architect, traveled to the United States in 1924 and studied in Penn's architecture program.
However, Penn's architecture program rejected the admission application of this Chinese woman because it did not admit female students until 1934. As a result, Lin had to study in the only department that accepted female students, the School of Fine Arts.
Nevertheless, she actively participated in architecture studios, took courses in design theory, drawing, and architectural history, and worked as a teaching assistant in architectural design, often outperforming her male peers.
She completed most of the coursework required for a Bachelor of Architecture degree. The only exceptions were a drawing course that was not open to female students because it featured male models.
"Upon closer examination, it became clear that the reason she wasn't awarded a degree was because she was a woman," said Fritz Steiner, Weitzman Dean, and Paley Professor, "It's not right, and this is an opportunity to correct that."
One of the illustrations Lin contributed to the women's undergraduate yearbook, 1926.
Among Lin Huiyin's numerous architectural designs, the most well-known to the Chinese people are the designs of the national emblem and the Monument to the People's Heroes.
Next year will mark the 120th anniversary of Lin's birth and the 100th anniversary of her enrollment at Penn. Lin's daughter, 94-year-old Liang Zaibing, said, "A hundred years later, my mother is being recognized by her alma mater. This reminds me of her bravery and determination when she chose to major in architecture. She proved throughout her life that she was a true architect."
Lin was the daughter of the prominent Chinese diplomat Lin Changmin and also the aunt of the world-renowned artist Maya Lin.
