page_title: Rafael Guastavino
section_title: Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company
hierarchical_section_title: Rafael Guastavino / Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company
caption_attribution_description: St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church
context_page_description: Rafael Guastavino Moreno was a Spanish building engineer and builder who immigrated to the United States in 1881; his career for the next three decades was based in New York City.
  Based on the Catalan vault, he created the Guastavino tile, a "Tile Arch System", patented in the United States in 1885, which was used for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terracotta tiles and layers of mortar. His work appears in numerous prominent projects designed by major architectural firms in New York and other cities of the Northeast. 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 also used in numerous architecturally important and famous buildings with vaulted spaces.
context_section_description: In 1881 Guastavino came to New York City from Valencia, with his youngest son, nine-year-old Rafael III. In Spain he had been an accomplished architect and was a contemporary of Antoni Gaudí. In the March 7, 1885 article entitled "The Dakota Apartment House", printed in The Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, Guastavino was identified as the contractor in charge of "fireproof construction" of the luxury apartment building, which was completed in 1884. Though not specified, the work may very well have included the groined vault entries on the south side on West 72nd Street, and 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. 
  Guastavino was commissioned by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White for their 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, Guastavino 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, Guastavino decided to build his own retirement home in the mountains of Black Mountain, North Carolina in a 500-acre valley. His property, Rhododendron, also 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). The property holds artifacts that may be visited, including the kiln and chimney, a wine cellar, beautiful old stone walls, and many smaller structures that have been rediscovered as modern buildings have been constructed there.
  Guastavino and his son also developed twenty-four products that were awarded patents. Their company, Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company, run by the father and then by his son, was incorporated in 1889. It executed its final contract in 1962. Akoustolith was one of several trade names used by Guastavino.
  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. At 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.
caption: St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia
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