AliveTampaBay’s camera captured the sights and sounds of the Dali during an architectural tour led by Yann Weymouth, the museum’s architect.
AliveTampaBay looks back to a story first published on June 1, 2017
By David R. Wheeler, Editor
A rare opportunity for an exclusive architectural tour of the iconic Dali Museum was led by none other than the internationally renowned architect Yann Weymouth, who has received global acclaim for his masterful design of the award-winning museum. Our camera captured the sights and sounds of the light-filled Dali as well as the passion of Weymouth for the downtown St. Petersburg museum named as “one of the top 10 places to see before you die.”
Ours is not a typical tour. Instead, you’re getting an unusual opportunity to learn about the architecture of the Dali – a walking tour of the building with its architect, Weymouth, whose career spans five decades and three continents.
Learn, for example, all the precautions required to protect the artwork in case of a hurricane.
Learn why, in the magnificent bubble atrium, no two glass panes are the same size.
Our film reveals how the museum captures the spirit of both Dali and of Florida itself.
Weymouth’s career includes architectural work for some of the most well-known structures in the world. After graduating from Harvard and MIT, Weymouth was I.M. Pei’s Chief of Design for the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
In 1983, Pei asked Weymouth to be his Chief of Design for the Grand Louvre Project in Paris. Weymouth’s Louvre notebooks were subsequently featured in the film The Battle of the Pyramid. Perhaps most impressively, Weymouth was knighted by French President Francois Mitterrand. Weymouth is a “Chevalier” of the “Ordre National du Mérite.”
The Dali has received universal acclaim, and has been cited in thousands of worldwide media outlets. It was chosen by ABC News as one of the “World’s Most Exciting Museums.”
Architect Yann Weymouth, design director for the St. Pete Design Group, a joint venture between Harvard Jolly Architects and Wannemacher Jensen Associates.