Rafael Guastavino, "The architect of New York"

The architect of New York, a documentary film about the life of Rafael Guastavino i Moreno, who came to build more than 1,000 buildings in the Big Apple. His system of structural Fireproof tile vault was one of his great discoveries that led to United States

City Hall Subway Station, New York (1904). Photograph © Michael Freeman

The architects of America owe him [Rafael Guastavino i Moreno] a debt of gratitude for not only having been a faithful and conscientious contractor, but for having made possible a larger field of architectural design.

— Peter B. Wight, 1901

The documentary film reflects the life and work of Rafael Guastavino Moreno (Valencia, Spain, 1842 - Baltimore, USA, 1908). The Spanish architect is responsible for buildings such as the Carnegie Hall of New York City, the subway station City Hall, the building of the Federal Reserve or the Queensboroug's bridge linking neighborhoods of Queens and Manhattan. Rafael Guastavino died in 1908, but his son Rafael Guastavino Expósito (1872-1950) learned from adolescent the same technical construction and business of the father. Guastavino Company closed its doors in 1962 outstripped by new technologies, behind taking a course of 73 years of existence and having left behind their involvement in more than 1,000 projects in the United States.

Hearst Memorial Mining Building University of California, Berkeley, 1907. Photograh courtesy of Michael Moore.

The documentary film, below (RTVE only in Spanish)

Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino, despite being little known, changed the construction system in the United States, where it exported a very common ancient building tradition in the Mediterranean region. His tabicada Fireproof vault was one of his great discoveries.

I had it all as a character: he had been forgotten by history, had an impressive architectural work and also had a personal life full of passionate love affairs, travel and even made some little scam. A true bon vivant full of light and shadow, a perfect character.

A large number of iconic buildings in New York are signed by the Guastavino's Company. His legacy can be seen at Carnegie Hall, City Hall subway, Grand Central Station, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine or the Queensborough Bridge. His imprint was so deep in the city, in its obituary, The New York Times named him as 'The architect of New York'

The documentary will follow the footsteps of Rafael Guastavino: will travel from his native Valencia to Barcelona in their formative years to complete the tour in the United States and discover there its stage of splendor.

Buffalo Central Terminal (1929). Photograph © Neil Gates

Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant, New York (1913). Photograph © Michael Freeman

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cambridge (1929). Photograph © David Andrews

Boston Public Library (1895). From 1888 to 1895 Rafael Guastavino laid tile on the structure that would launch his career. His signature vaulted ceilings are featured prominently in the McKim Building’s lobby and map room. Photograph © Sheryl Lanzel

The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina (1895). Photograph © Courtesy of the Biltmore Company

The Nebraska State Capitol Building (1932). Photograph © Michael Freeman

Bridgemarket, under Queensboro Bridge. Photograph courtesy of Jim Henderson

Rotunda of Pittsburgh's historic Union Station.

Hearst Memorial Mining Building University of California, Berkeley, 1907. Photograh courtesy of Ira Serkes.

Hearst Memorial Mining Building University of California, Berkeley, 1907. Photograh courtesy of Michael Moore.

News of Raphael Guastavino Dead on The New York Times, Feb. 2, 1908

Drawing detail, of the constructive system for Rafael Guastavino cupolas.

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More information

Rafael Guastavino

Rafael Guastavino (Valencia, Spain, 1842 – Asheville, North Carolina, USA, 1908) was a Spanish architect and builder. Based on the Catalan vault he created the Guastavino tile, a "Tile Arch System" patented in the United States in 1885 used for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terracotta tiles and layers of mortar. Guastavino tile is found in some of New York's most prominent Beaux-Arts landmarks and in major buildings across the United States. It is used in a huge number of architecturally important and famous buildings with vaulted spaces. Guastavino was not the principal architect for most of the projects.

In 1881 he came to New York City from Barcelona, with his youngest son, nine-year-old Rafael III. In Spain he had been an accomplished architect trained in Barcelona and was a contemporary of Antoni Gaudi. In the March 7, 1885 article entitled The Dakota Apartment House, printed in The Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, he was listed as being the contractor in charge of "fireproof construction" of the luxury apartment building that was completed in 1884. Though not specified, the work may very well have included the groined vault entry on the south side on West 72nd Street, the north side on West 73rd Street, as well as the construction of the subterranean basement, and the 3-foot thick arched floors between the basement and attic levels. Years later he was commissioned by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White's Boston Public Library (1889), which increased his reputation with every major architect on the East Coast. His published drawings of interior decoration of the Spanish Renaissance style caught the eye of an architect, who asked him to submit a design for the planned New York Progress Club building.

After forming a partnership with William Blodgett, he eventually was offered a construction position in 1890 with George W. Vanderbilt to construct arches for the new mansion, Biltmore at Asheville, North Carolina. After working on the estate, he decided to build his own retirement home in the mountains of Black Mountain, North Carolina in a 500-acre valley. His house, Rhododendron, had a vineyard, dairy, brick kiln, and more. This property currently is owned by Christmount Assembly, the conference center for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). On the property there still are artifacts that may be visited, including the kiln and chimney, a wine cellar, beautiful old stone walls, and many smaller artifacts that have been rediscovered as modern buildings have been constructed.

He and his son developed twenty-four items that were awarded patents. Their company, Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company, run by the father then by his son, was incorporated in 1889 and executed its final contract in 1962.

Akoustolith was one of several trade names used by Guastavino.

Literally hundreds of major building projects incorporate the distinctive Tile Arch System. In Chicago, the central nave vaulting of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago uses 100,000 Guastavino tiles. In Boston, Guastavino tiles are found in the Boston Public Library; in New York City, in the Grand Central Terminal, Grant's Tomb, Carnegie Hall, the American Museum of Natural History, Congregation Emanu-El of New York, and St. Bartolomew's Episcopal Church; and in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Supreme Court building and the National Museum of Natural History on the National Mall. Guastavino tiles form the domes of Philadelphia's St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, and in Pittsburgh's Union Station, the vaulting of the carriage turnaround is a Guastavino tile system. In Nebraska, the tiles may be seen in the Nebraska State Capitol.

In 1900, New York architects Heins & LaFarge hired Guastavino to help construct City Hall station, the underground showpiece for the IRT, the first part of the then-new New York City Subway. The station, although elegant, was never convenient or popular, and after it closed in 1945 it became a legendary abandoned Manhattan underground relic, the secret of subway buffs and urban spelunkers. Guastavino also installed the ceiling of the south arcade of the Manhattan Municipal Building, which was constructed during 1907-1914.

Having experienced Ellis Island as an incoming immigrant, in 1917 the younger Guastavino was commissioned to rebuild the ceiling of the Ellis Island Great Hall. The Guastavinos set 28,832 tiles into a self-supporting interlocking 56-foot (17 m)-high ceiling grid so durable and strong that during the restoration project of the 1980s, as many sources repeat the story, only seventeen of those tiles needed replacing.

The largest dome created by the Guastavino Company was over the central crossing for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan: it is 100 ft (30 m) in diameter and 160 feet (49 m) high. This dome was intended to be a temporary structure, to be replaced by a high central tower. In 2009 this "temporary" fix celebrated the 100th anniversary of its construction. In large part, Guastavino received this contract due to the much lower price he could quote because his system served as its own scaffolding. This was an extreme test of his system, however. The masons had to work from above, each day adding a few rows of tiles, and standing on the previous day's work to progress. At the edges, many layers of tile were laid, and the dome thins as it rises toward the center.

As architect. Few structures designed and built by Guastavino alone have been identified. He was responsible for a series of rowhouses with unusual Moresque features on West 78th Street (121-131 known as the "red and whites"), in Manhattan's Upper West Side, which survive. One of Guastavino's structures, an event space, is located under the Midtown Manhattan end of the Queensboro Bridge. His son Rafael's Mediterranean villa (1912) built entirely of Guastavino tiles, still stands on Awixa Avenue, in Bay Shore, Long Island.

Published on: September 3, 2016

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metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

"Rafael Guastavino, "The architect of New York"" METALOCUS. Accessed

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