Meet the 2025 Design Award Jury

Partner, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), 2025 President AIANY

Benjamin Gilmartin, AIA

Benjamin Gilmartin joined Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in 2004 and became a partner in 2015. Ben led the redesign of Alice Tully Hall, multiple public spaces within the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts campus, and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley. Most recently, Ben completed the 2021 AIA Colorado Design Award of Excellence recipient United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum, hailed as one of the most accessible museums in the country, and led the design of the adjoining 2022 AIA Colorado Design Award of Excellence recipient Park Union Bridge, a 250-foot floating curved steel structure. In addition to recently completing DS+R’s first building in Australia at the University of Sydney, Ben is also currently co-leading the design for the new home of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning in Cambridge and a major tech headquarters in the Pacific Northwest.

photo: Geordie Wood

Principal, PYATOK

Adrianne Steichen, FAIA

As a Principal at PYATOK, Adrianne dedicates her 20-plus-year career to advancing the design of affordable housing, walkable urbanism, community engagement, and sustainable cities. Her work has significantly influenced student and multifamily residential developments and households of all incomes across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Adrianne is a highly-engaged member of the profession. She has served on several national committees of the American Institute of Architects, is a former Chair of the Bay Area Young Architects for AIA San Francisco and former president of the chapter. Recently, Adrianne chaired the national AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community and has represented American architects to federal agencies and abroad, advocating for housing as a human right and furthering international sustainable development goals. Adrianne has experience on several design juries including for the Bank of America Low Income Housing Challenge, for AIA Minnesota’s Affordable Housing Design Awards Program, for the AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award, and for the AIA/HUD Secretary’s Awards.

In 2025, AIA San Francisco honored Adrianne with their inaugural Marsha Maytum Citizen Architect Award for her enduring commitment to housing advocacy, public-interest architecture, and community service.

Principal, Design Director, Dallas, Perkins&Will

Ron Stelmarski, FAIA

Ron Stelmarski launched his architectural career at Perkins&Will’s Chicago studio, where he designed museums, showrooms, and a firm monograph—early work that revealed his gift for combining narrative clarity with spatial innovation. His global portfolio, including projects in China and the Middle East, deepened his understanding of cultural context and architecture’s power to bridge global and local identities.

Since becoming design director of the Dallas studio in 2011, Ron has helped shape the city’s architectural landscape, forging strong community ties and advocating for inclusive, expressive design. His work is known for its bold conceptual vision, structural clarity, and ability to create meaningful human experiences. As noted by critic Mark Lamster, “nobody has done more to shape the city’s built environment this century.”

Ron’s recent projects include the Dallas Convention Center, UT School of Business, the Pittman Hotel, Baylor Scott & White HQ, and CoverMyMeds HQ. He holds degrees from Yale and the University of Cincinnati, and his time assisting historian Vincent Scully at Yale continues to inform his thoughtful, rigorous approach to design.