Honorary Member of New York State Award
Ramon Gilsanz This honorary award recognizes outstanding and significant accomplishments of a person of esteemed character who is not eligible for membership in the Institute, but who has rendered distinguished service to the profession of architecture or the arts and sciences allied there with. Ramon is a partner and an outstanding engineer at the award-winning structural engineering firm Gilsanz Murray Steficek (GMS) that has worked with or is currently working with nine Pritzker laureates and employs 120 people across three states. Ramon Gilsanz, along with partners Philip Murray and Gary Steficek founded Gilsanz Murray Steficek(GMS) in 1991. Headquartered in New York City, the multidisciplinary firm provides structural engineering and building envelope consulting services along with other specialized services such as art installation design. The firm has won over 250 project awards and has had the privilege of working with many talented architects, including nine Pritzker Prize winners. The firm’s core mission is to implement creative design solutions. To further that goal, Ramon has been active in AIA New York and a strong supporter of the Center for Architecture. He has dedicated resources to educating architects and engineers alike in ways that foster teamwork across disciplines. In the aftermath of 9/11, Mr. Gilsanz worked with others to mobilize the structural engineering community to assist New York City at the WTC site through the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY). Over 400 structural engineers responded to the call, volunteering their services to the NYC Department of Design and Construction, their contractors and their lead structural consultant, LZA/Thornton Tomasetti. During the first month of SEAoNY’s volunteer efforts, GMS provided its New York office as a 24/7 base of operations. Mr. Gilsanz received awards from several entities for his role in organizing part of the WTC response. Mr. Gilsanz served on the team investigating the World Trade Center collapse for the national ASCE- FEMA building performance assessment and led the WTC7 collapse analysis and the steel recovery effort. He also participated in the National Institute of Standards and 8
Technology (NIST) investigation and recommendations. He has been a strong advocate for updating the Building Code, both in New York and nationally and continually pushes for improvements to building codes and, along with others, have helped draft and advocate for Emergency Responder legislation in New York and across the country. Following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, GMS performed NYC DOB building assessments and Mr. Gilsanz served on the Urban Green Council’s Building Resiliency Task Force (BRTF) which studied how to help communities, buildings and city infrastructure become more resilient. He collaborated as a structural expert on the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance. GMS is one of the founding members of the United States Resiliency Council (USRC) which promotes resiliencebased building design. Mr. Gilsanz’s other efforts to improve building safety includes developing an AIA CES course to teach earthquake engineering and building resiliency concepts to architects, owners, and other key decision makers. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE. Born in Spain, Mr. Gilsanz graduated from Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales with an engineering degree with a specialization in mechanical engineering. He came to the US in 1979 to attend MIT, where he earned both a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Civil Engineer’s Degree. Mr. Gilsanz lives in New York City with his partner Mariko Takahashi.