Susana and Yann Weymouth
154 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE
photography by win wolloff
| JULY/AUGUST 2016
sense, think about how to explain it, and then listen to
reasoning, intuitions and the expertise of others.
Why do you do what you do?
Susana: It is an opportunity to try to make a
meaningful difference.
Yann: I practice architecture because I love shaping
spaces and buildings that can positively affect the lives
of a community.
What don’t people know about you?
Susana: My parents and I fled Cuba as political
exiles when I was two years old and went straight to
Washington D.C., leaving everything behind.
Yann: I am the eldest of eight children. I was a Navy
brat. My father, a retired Admiral, just turned 99 years old.
What are your favorite words of wisdom?
Susana: “Your education is what can never be taken
away,” and “You never stop learning.”
Yann: “Follow your passion.”
What do you consider to be your greatest
achievement?
Susana: Raising our son, who just graduated from
Military Medical School, and pouring love into my
family.
Yann: My greatest professional achievement is to have
helped create buildings that have made a difference and
an impact.
What is your motto?
Susana: “Strive hard, care deeply, and be authentic.”
Yann: Churchill said it best: “Never, never, never
give up.”
How do you think other people would describe you?
Susana: Passionate, energetic, and committed.
Yann: Hard working and loves what he does.
How would you describe yourself?
Susana: Hard working, caring, thoughtful, genuine.
Yann: Curious, rigorous, educated, enthusiastic.
What would you title your autobiography?
Susana: “Unexpected Blessings”
Yann: “Thank You!” I owe so much to those who
taught, encouraged and helped me – teachers, friends,
mentors, colleagues, family and especially Susana.
What first name would you have given yourself?
Susana: I love my name because it’s my mother’s,
and it is an honor to carry it and emulate her.
Yann: I like the name I was given – it harks back to
France and Brittany, where my mother was born and
where I spent summers as a child. Susana and I were
married there. 9
Susana is the executive director of Tampa Bay
Businesses for Culture and the Arts. She is currently on
The Directors Circle and Community Advisory Council of
the USF Institute for Research in Art and on the Arts and
Culture Committee of the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
Formerly, Susana was the development director of the Film
Society of Miami – Miami International Film Festival and
also the development consultant for the National Film
and Television School in London, England. Susana grew
up in Washington, D.C. and is a graduate of Georgetown
University.
Yann Weymouth, AIA, LEED® AP is an architect whose
career spans nearly five decades and three continents with
some of the most important architectural firms, including
I.M. Pei and Partners, Arup, SOM, Arquitectonica, and
HOK. He is currently the design director for the St. Pete
Design Group, a joint venture between Harvard Jolly
Architects and Wannemacher Jensen Associates, designing
a new Museum of Western and Native American Art for
Tom and Mary James in downtown St. Petersburg. After
graduating from Harvard and MIT, he became chief of
design for the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C. and the Robert Kenndy gravesite at
Arlington National Cemetery. In 1983, he reprised his role
as chief of design for the Grand Louvre Project in Paris,
France. Yann served on the worldwide Design Board and
as design director for HOK from 2001-2013. He is perhaps
best known for his design of the iconic and light-filled
Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg. Susana and Yann
have been married for nearly 30 years.
At what do you excel?
Susana: Connecting people, causes and organizations
and striving to effect positive change.
Yann: I excel at my profession. I have been practicing
architecture for 50 years.
What is your favorite word?
Susana: “Passion”
Yann: “Solve”
How do you relax?
Susana: Reading or walking on the beach.
Yann: Walking on the beach or following scientific
research.
Who is your role model?
Susana: My passionate, self-sacrificing mother,
a brilliant lawyer, who raised us to believe in the
importance of education and the arts and organized
weekend visits to museums and historic places.
Yann: The great architect, my first boss I. M. Pei, who
taught me and so many others how to design, analyze
problems, discover why an intuitive insight makes