the company

Performance Structures was founded by Ethan A. Silva in 1997, as a successor business to E.A. Silva Associates, which had been operating since 1975. The original enterprise focused on steel boat building, which required shaping and forming steel plates to create curvaceous hulls.

The focus later shifted to mechanical and stage effects for well-known concert acts and theme parks, including The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Disney World, Universal Studios, and the Titanic Experience at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia.

Since the completion of Cloud Gate in 2004, Performance Structures has established itself as one of the premier builders of stainless steel fine art and architectural features. Using the institutional knowledge of nearly 40 years of experience in building structures, Performance Structures continues to pioneer new methods for creating the truly unusual and spectacular.

the people

Our team members have extensive experience in fabrication and welding, machining, mechanical and electrical design, robotics, and a myriad of metal crafts. Our educational backgrounds span mechanical and structural engineering, architecture, product design, physics, art history, studio art, computer programming, robotics, and transportation design.

Outside of PSI, we are working artists, designers, inventors, photographers, musicians, and sailing enthusiasts.