Mayne, Thom (1944-…), is an American architect known for his innovative designs. His projects typically have a geometric, jagged appearance that at first looks incomplete and even chaotic. His designs have been praised for their creativity, their integration into their immediate environment, and their reflection of the historical roots of the area. In 2005, Mayne was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious international award in architecture
Mayne’s commissions in California include the Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center (1988) in Los Angeles, the Crawford Residence (1990) in Montecito, and the Diamond Ranch High School (2000) in Pomona. They also include the Science Center School (2004) in Los Angeles, the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters (2004) in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Federal Building (2007), and the Orange County Museum of Art (2022) in Costa Mesa.
In other parts of the United States, Mayne has designed the University of Cincinnati Campus Recreation Center (2006); the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse (2006) in Eugene, Oregon; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellite Operation Control Facility (2006) in Suitland, Maryland; and the first academic building (2017) for Cornell University’s high-tech graduate school campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. In other countries, Mayne’s projects include the Sun Tower retail office building (1997) in Seoul, South Korea; the University of Toronto Graduate House (2000) in Ontario, Canada; the Hypo Alpe-Adria Center office complex (2002) in Klagenfurt, Austria; and the United States embassy complex in Beirut, Lebanon (scheduled to be completed in 2023).
Mayne was born on Jan. 19, 1944, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Southern California in 1968 and an M.A. degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1978. In 1972, Mayne helped found an architecture firm called Morphosis in Santa Monica, California.
