The actor, 54, has been spending time with Neri Oxman, an architect and professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab, according to Page Six TV.

Pitt and Oxman connected over their shared love of design and architecture, and their relationship “is best described as a professional friendship,” a source told the outlet. While the source said the friendship is not romantic in nature, Pitt is “interested in spending more time” with Oxman.

A rep for the actor declined to comment to PageSix, but a friend of Pitt’s told the outlet that the two are “just friends.”

The duo reportedly met through an MIT architecture project. While the nature of the project is unknown, Pitt is a noted architecture enthusiast and founded the Make It Right Foundation, which builds affordable and environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans for people in need.

Oxman is an award-winning architect of American-Israeli decent. She was previously married to Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. According to her MIT profile, Oxman “coined the term, and pioneered the field of, Material Ecology, which considers computation, fabrication, and the material itself as inseparable dimensions of design. In this approach, products and buildings are biologically informed and digitally engineered by, with and for, nature.”

Pitt has been mostly keeping a low profile since his September 2016 split from Angelina Jolie. The duo have been negotiating over the terms of their divorce and custody of their six kids — Maddox, 16, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 11, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 9.

Lately, the actor “seems to be in a better place,” a source told PEOPLE in March. “The separation was very dark for him, but lately he looks healthier and happier. He seems excited about life.”

Last year, a source told PEOPLE that Pitt has been “casually dating,” adding, “He has been going out but there is nothing serious in the dating area at all, nothing to speak of at this point.

Pitt is also revving up his acting career: He signed on alongside Leonardo DiCaprio for Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming (and controversial) film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, about the 1969 Manson Family murders.

The production will feature DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, the former star of a western TV series, and Pitt as his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth. Rick lives next door to Sharon Tate, the actress and model who was brutally slain by followers of the cult leader.