ORGANIZATION
OVERVIEW
Architecture Sarasota believes design has the power to transform communities and reimagine a better future for all. We are dedicated to stewarding the legacy of the Sarasota School of Architecture while providing a forum for education, advocacy, and the celebration of good design in the global built environment.
To bring this mission to life, we work in close collaboration with public agencies, private partners, and creative minds both locally and globally.
Together, we research the region’s environment as a living laboratory, exploring innovative ideas and forward-thinking approaches to designing and adapting the places where people live, work, and play.
FOCUS AREAS
Environmental Adaptation
Creating resilient design solutions rooted in local geography, culture, and climate realities.
Sustainable Urbanism
Reimagining cities to be more sustainable, equitable, and responsive to future needs.
Modern Dwelling
Studying housing from the 20th and 21st centuries to inform new models for economically accessible, well-designed living.
Sarasota School Legacy
Preserving and promoting 100 years of the Sarasota School of Architecture, positioning the region as a global epicenter for design excellence.
OUR BOARD
ANNE ESSNER, Chair
After receiving her MBA from Columbia University, Anne pursued a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Following her retirement, Anne has directed her energies towards various non-profit and philanthropic endeavors. She helped to facilitate the joining of Sarasota Architectural Foundation and Center for Architecture Sarasota into Architecture Sarasota and has since served as its board chair. She is a director of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. She and her husband, Bob, own and have restored two significant midcentury modern homes designed by Paul Rudolph. Prior to moving to Sarasota, Anne served on the Women’s Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and was board chair of the Great Swamp Watershed Association, an environmental stewardship organization based in central New Jersey.
HOWARD DAVIS, Esq., Vice Chair
Howard’s career in commercial real estate—as a developer, consultant, attorney, and teacher—spans over 40 years. He currently focuses on award-winning adaptive reuse projects in downtown Sarasota, transforming underused commercial buildings into creative spaces for artists and makers. Before moving to Sarasota, Howard spent more than 30 years in Boston, where he led major mixed-use developments and consulted for public agencies, including the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, overseeing the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center—the largest building in New England. Earlier, he practiced law at Goodwin Procter and taught at Northeastern and Harvard. He has served on architecture juries and presented widely to industry groups. Howard holds degrees from Ohio State (B.A.), M.I.T. (Master’s in City Planning), and Boston University (J.D.).
KATHERINE DESOUSA, Secretary
As an independent product designer, Katherine worked in many areas of home furnishings: however, the primary focus of her work was tableware, giftware and housewares. A noted crystal designer, she has worked with top international crystal companies. Her designs have been produced by Steuben Glass, Baccarat Crystal, Cristalleries du Val St. Lambert, Dansk, Lenox, Reed & Barton and others. Educated in studio ceramics, Katherine started her career working for Professor Walter Gropius at The Architects Collaborative designing porcelain dinnerware for Rosenthal China. The Gropius TAC 02 teapot she designed has been in production for over 50 years. Education: Rhode Island School of Design, BFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, MFA.
MICHAEL BUSH, Treasurer
Michael Bush is the President of Home Resource Inc. the leading contemporary and modern furniture showroom on Florida’s West Coast. Michael held senior executive positions in Europe and the United States for Exxon Mobil and other smaller publicly traded companies. His specialty is start up and turn around environments and was a key executive in the creation of Mobil Chemical’s Global Petrochemical Operations. He graduated from Michigan State in accounting and is a CPA. He has served on the boards of numerous non-profit and business associations in Sarasota. In addition to Architecture Sarasota, Michael is on the board of the Ringling Museum of Art.
JEFF ACKER
Jeff is a real estate developer focused primarily on residential development and construction. He has been responsible for a wide range of residential projects in Southern California, Phoenix, Reno and Sarasota County. Prior to becoming a real estate developer, Jeff was a licensed landscape architect working for a variety of architectural firms in Phoenix and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and obtained his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois.
CARRIE COX
Carrie has held a number of senior leadership roles in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Organon, a leading women’s healthcare company, and SelectaBio, a clinical stage biotechnology company. She also serves on the boards of Texas Instruments and Cardinal Health. Carrie was named six times to Fortune Magazine’s list of “50 Most Powerful Women in Business”. She also serves on the Advisory Council for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and leads the Director’s Council for the Penn Museum. Carrie is a pharmacist and received her degree at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.
ELAINE CROUSE
Elaine pursued a career in the international communications industry, concentrating her business activities in New York City. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, she has a Master’s Degree in International Studies with emphasis on Economics and Policy from New York University. During her career Elaine held various leadership positions in Strategy and Corporate Policy, Investor Relations and Marketing. Since her retirement Elaine devotes much of her time to various philanthropic initiatives. In 2004 Elaine and her husband Bill moved to Sarasota. Just recently they purchased the historically significant Sarasota School of Architecture home, the Revere Quality House. Elaine is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Ringling College of Art and Design and a board member of the Allstar Children’s Foundation. She is also on the Advisory Committee of the Sarasota Art Museum.
DAN MACEY
Dan Macey has spent the past decade passionately preserving modern and mid-century architecture. With his husband, Paul Savidge, he restored the Louis Kahn–designed Margaret Esherick House in Philadelphia, earning numerous national and local preservation awards. Dan is the president of the Philadelphia chapter of Docomomo US, an international organization dedicated to the documentation and conservation of modern architecture. He co-chaired the national Docomomo US symposium when it was held in Philadelphia and also served on the executive board of the Chestnut Hill Conservancy. He is a former board member of Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center. A nationally recognized commercial food stylist, Dan creates food visuals for television, cookbooks, packaging, and promotions. He is deeply engaged in food culture and history, serving on the board of the Historic Foodways Society of the Delaware Valley and frequently speaking on historical food topics. He has contributed to several food history books, including a James Beard Award winner.
RYAN PERRONE
A native of Sarasota, Ryan Perrone is a General Contractor with an eye for details. His company, Nautilus Custom Homes, has been honored with various local, regional, and national awards, including AIA Florida’s 2022 Builder of The Year. As a second-generation Sarasota Luxury home builder, Ryan has been a champion of good design within his community for decades. Ryan joined Architecture Sarasota to increase awareness of the SSA and the benefits of good design. Ryan and his wife Brittany are proud parents to two boys, Luca and Nico.
DAVID ZACCARDELLI
David Zaccardelli is a pharmaceutical executive with over 30 years experience leading new product development at both private and public companies. He has served as President and CEO, and board member of Verona Pharma, Dova Pharmaceuticals, and Cempra. Previously, he served in several senior management roles at United Therapeutics Corporation, including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Manufacturing Officer and Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and Operations. Prior to United Therapeutics, he founded and led a start-up company focused on contract research positions and held a variety of clinical research positions at Burroughs Wellcome & Co, Glaxo Wellcome, and Bausch & Lomb Pharmaceutical. He received a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Michigan.
TEAM
MARTY HYLTON, President
Morris “Marty” Hylton III brings nearly 30 years of experience in documenting, conserving, and advocating for cultural heritage. Trained as both an architect and historic preservationist, he collaborates closely with communities to develop strategies for preserving and managing cultural resources. His work focuses on the unique challenges of 20th-century heritage—especially post–World War II sites—and on the resilience of historic places affected by natural disasters and climate change, particularly in coastal regions. From 2002 to 2007, Marty was Strategic Initiatives Manager at the World Monuments Fund, overseeing recovery efforts along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and helping launch the Modernism at Risk program. For 14 years, he directed Historic Preservation at the University of Florida, where he founded the Envision Heritage program, integrating digital technologies into preservation practice. Most recently, he served as the National Park Service’s first Historic Architect for Climate Change, helping to establish the Climate, Science, and Disaster Response Program within its Cultural Resources Directorate.
RYAN LESTER, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Communications
Ryan Lester leads strategic research initiatives and communications at Architecture Sarasota, using the city as a living case study for how communities can preserve architectural heritage while addressing contemporary challenges in the built environment. His work sits at the intersection of urban planning, urban analytics, and historic preservation. He holds a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning and a bachelor’s degree in Sustainability and the Built Environment, both from the University of Florida. His graduate thesis applied scalable artificial intelligence methods to pedestrian safety analysis in sprawling urban environments, to evaluate crash risk and inform cost-effective safety improvements. He has also contributed to national research initiatives such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Coasts, Climates, the Humanities, and the Environment Consortium. Alongside his career in the built environment, Ryan brings over a decade of experience as a freelance filmmaker, producing projects for organizations including Google, FIFA, Lollapalooza, the National Park Service, and President Biden’s Inaugural Committee.
KRISTINE ZIEDINA, Director of Research and Documentation
Kristīne Ziediņa is a doctoral student in the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation program. Her passion for the history of the built environment began in Latvia, the Northern European country where she was born. She has worked as an interior designer and project manager in Latvia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. After relocating to the United States, Kristīne continued her education, graduating from Pennsylvania State University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies. In May 2019, she earned her Master’s degree from the University of Florida Historic Preservation program. For her thesis, Kristīne explored the history of screen block—one of the mid-century’s defining materials—in relation to Florida’s built environment. She now continues her studies by researching why spaces, places, and landscapes where cultural groups safeguard their heritage are often invisible within the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) framework.
GABRIELLE LETENDRE, Creative Design & Member Relations Intern
Gabrielle is completing her BFA in Graphic Design at Ringling College of Art and Design, where she is entering her senior year and set to graduate in May 2026. At Architecture Sarasota, she brings her passion for thoughtful design and clear visual storytelling to both creative projects and member relations, believing that design is most impactful when it connects people and ideas with clarity and care.
DR. CHRISTOPHER WILSON, Scholar in Residence
Dr. Christopher Wilson is an Architecture and Design Historian at Ringling College of Art + Design in Sarasota, Florida, USA. Dr. Wilson holds a BArch from Temple University, Philadelphia/USA; an MA from The Architectural Association, London/UK, and a PhD from Middle East Technical University, Ankara/TURKEY. Before entering the world of academia, Dr. Wilson worked as an architect in Philadelphia, Berlin, and London, and is registered with the RIBA.