Michael Maltzan
Michael Maltzan founded Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. in 1995. His projects cross a wide range of typologies, from cultural institutions to city infrastructure. Michael’s notable projects include the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, MoMA QNS, Star Apartments, the Pittman Dowell Residence, the new Sixth Street Viaduct, MIT Vassar Street Residential Hall, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery Inuit Art Centre.
Michael moved a lot while growing up but eventually settled in Connecticut. While attending high school he found he liked to draw and so went on to Wentworth, a building and technology school, then a two-year program.
After initially starting in construction, he moved to architecture when his drafting skills were recognised.
Michael received an M.Arch from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and BFA and B.Arch degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Michael has an immense interest in the issues of the housing deficit and recently told an interviewer “There’s an enormous housing deficit for every sector of the population, geographically, socially and economically. We can’t build fast enough to meet the needs. Housing is the building block of communities and can positively influence and sustain communities, providing accessibility and creating equity.”
“That’s what we’re working on in the office, connecting those who have been largely isolated from each other. Yes, our roads and bridges are falling apart and need rebuilding but, mostly, we need to connect people and places within our larger social fabric.”
Michael has worked for many years with the Skid Row Housing Trust (SRHT) including The Alvidrez, New Carver Apartments and the Rainbow Apartments in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Crest Apartments in Van Nuys, California.
He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and received the 2016 AIA Los Angeles Gold Medal. He is a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award and was elected to the National Academy of Design in 2020.
In 2021 the Society of Architectural Historians presented him with its Change Agent Award. He currently serves on the Deans leadership council at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Visiting Committee to the GSD. He was featured in the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s 2019 film, What It Takes to Make a Home, delivered the 20th Annual John T. Dunlop Lecture for the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and his work was named One of the 25 Best Inventions of 2015 by Time Magazine.
Michael’s work has gained international acclaim for innovation in both design and construction. It has been recognized with five Progressive Architecture awards, 47 citations from local, state and national chapters of the American Institute of Architects, the Rudy Bruner Foundation’s Gold Medal for Urban Excellence, the Zumtobel Group Award for Innovations for Sustainability & Humanity in the Built Environment, and a 2020 Best of the Millennium AIA LA Honor Award.
The practice and its projects have been widely featured in national and international publications and have been exhibited in museums worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Museum of Modern Art New York, the Heinz Architectural Center, the Canadian Center for Architecture, and the Carnegie Museum of Art. The practice’s work was selected for the 2006, 2018, and 2020 La Biennale di Venezia.
Michael Maltzan is proudly sponsored by:
