Robert Otani

Robert K. Otani, PE LEED AP is a Principal at Thornton-Tomasetti, Inc. and founded the CORE studio, which is an applications development, advanced computational modeling, and R&D group at the firm.

He has extensive structural design experience involving commercial, infrastructure, institutional, cultural and residential structures. He has worked on a wide variety of complex projects, including high-rise buildings, longspan roof structures, sports arenas, airport terminals, major building structural renovations and retrofits, structural art projects. His professional and academic interests focus on informed architecture relating to optimized structural typologies, high performance structures, and sustainability. He has served as President of the Structural Engineers Association of New York and has been a professor at Pratt Institute School of Architecture since 2008 and Columbia GSAPP since 2009.

His notable constructed projects are the Columbia University Northwest Science Building, Cornell University Gates Hall, The Park Imperial at 230 West 56th Street, VIA West 57th Street, Cornell Tech “The Bridge”, and the 9/11 Westchester Memorial.