Design Portfolio Max Pittman
FRONT ELEVATION
About Me Hi, I’m Max. I’m an architect interested in occupant-centered design. Before starting in architecture, I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental psychology. My research centered around the relationship between person and space, and in particular, how design factors influence human experience. I believe that architecture has the power to improve well-being, and that good design begins with prioritizing people.
2
Table of Contents Courtyard House
4
Urban Village
6
Ecoresort
12
Transformer House
14
Affordable Housing Complex
16
Reservoir & Learning Center
18
3
Courtyard House Laney LA Architecture and Design Location: Manhattan Beach, CA Sq foot: 6,000 “Removed from standard ocean views and hidden behind a discreet hedge, this Manhattan Beach residence chooses to reveal itself slowly. It is discovered only through intentional approach. Organized around a massive courtyard, the interior floor plan layers indoor and outdoor spaces to accomplish the sensation of being surrounded by nature. With views toward downtown Los Angeles, the courtyard bleeds into a hardscape, outdoor room and terminates in an infinity pool. The resultant architecture creates its own context and a new type of architecture for its neighborhood.” - Laney LA This conceptual project was a collaboration between myself and Tony Schonhardt, the studio director.
Conceptual rendering, by Igor Nominov
4
First Floor
Second Floor
5
The Urban Village This multifamily housing complex explores a future of cooperative living in which single family homes exist within the dense, vertical framework of modern urban living. Each resident’s uniquely-tailored home coexists within a neighborhood that shares amenities including a community garden and daycare center.
Axonometric Section 6
Ground Floor: Entry, Gym, Cafe, Library
7
Community Garden Level, Floor 1 8
PLAN: COMMUNITY GARDEN LEVEL, FIRST FLOOR 1’ : 1/8”
2
4
8
12
20
Community Garden Level, Floor 2 PLAN: COMMUNITY GARDEN LEVEL, SECOND FLOOR 1’ : 1/8”
2
4
8
12
1’ : 1/8”
9
20
PLAN: COMMUNITY GARDEN LEVEL, SECOND FLOOR
2
4
8
12
20
Childcare Level, Floor 1 10
Childcare Level, Floor 2 11
Eco Resort 3-Week Challenge Location: Gaucin, Andalusia Spain The design hybridizes the simple geometries found in the neighboring town of Gaucin with ruinous architecture, in which nature reclaims the built environment. Completed in three weeks, our proposal orients it’s simple forms towards the forest, providing each unit autonomous unobstructed views into the surrounding nature. The units are clustered together radially. They share a common plaza, but branch outwards to create a private, immersive experience for each guest.
Unit Plan
12
Exterior daytime render of unit
13
Transformer House Location: Westwood, Los Angeles Size: 7,000 Sq Ft This project reimagines Rudolph Schindler’s Tischler house as a coliving space for Los Angeles artists. The studio began with an exploration of the Tischler house as a simple machine, and in this case, a space-making one. The Schindler’s themselves viewed their own home on Kings Road as a backdrop for arts, able to transform to accomodate the needs of itinerant occupants. With this in mind, I expanded the footprint of the Tischler home to its site extents, and created an unfolding top mass to serve as living, shared, and performance space for the resident artists.
Longitudiinal section A-A’ 14 LONGITUDINAL SECTION 1’ : 1/8”
2
4
8
12
20
A’
A
2
8 4
20 12
Third Floor Plan 15
Affordable Housing Complex Location: Marlton Square, Los Angeles Size: 183,000 sq ft This mixed-income and social-services complex is located in Marlton Square, an unnocupied site centrally located in a commercial district. This complex addresses the housing needs of the Baldwin Hills community. It provides housing, greenspace, and community support services, including adult learning classrooms, a community kitchen and food bank, and mental health resources. The core design drivers are access to greenspace, social connection, and resident autonomy. The circulation through the complex is external, which serves two purposes: separating public circulation from private units, and capitalizing on LA’s sunny climate.
Stacking logic
Exterior render 16
5
20 10
Unit distribaution 40 17
Reservoir & Learning Center Location: Glendale, CA This project deploys ground as an equalizer, to thread infrastructure, building, and site together into a water reservoir-learning center hybrid optimized for civic engagement. The concept was approached with two factors in mind: first, that the site is adjacent to Griffith park, the LA river, and across the freeway from residential neighborhoods, making it prime real estate for public access. Second, that this reservoir can be a powerful visual and symbolic proxy for the population density and water demands of LA county, leveraging the reservoir as a learning tool itself.
Axonometric plan. Visitor and employee space diverges after entry. Lower levels are dedicated to the learning center, while upper levels are LADWP workspaces.
18
Exterior render. The reservoir rooftop is bermed over with walkable, drought-friendly terrain
Interior ceiling render
19