Michael Maltzan is the principal architect at Michael Maltzan Architecture (MMA), a Los Angeles–based architecture firm. He received a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University and both a Bachelor of Architecture degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.[1] Maltzan was selected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2007.[2]
In 2012, Maltzan and engineering firm HNTB were selected through an international competition to design the Sixth Street Viaduct. The bridge will replace the original 1932 Sixth Street Viaduct that suffers from alkali-silica reaction which makes the bridge vulnerable to seismic failure.[10] The bridge design is known as “The Ribbon of Light” and is the largest bridge project in the history of Los Angeles. The bridge opened to the public on July 9, 2022.[11]
Recognition
Maltzan was awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture in 2012[12] and the Society of Architectural Historians Change Agent Award in 2021.[13] He received the 2016 AIA Los Angeles Gold Medal and was elected to the National Academy of Design in 2020.[14] He was inducted as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2023. [20]
Maltzan 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.[15][16][17]
Notable projects
New Vassar residence hall, MIT, Cambridge, MA (2021)
Speed Limits (May 20 - November 8, 2009). Exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture curated by Jeffrey Schnapp, Stanford Humanities Lab. Exhibition design by Michael Maltzan Architecture, Los Angeles.