Guastavino Vaulting

Book excerpt: The first monograph to celebrate the architectural legacy of the Guastavino family is now available in paperback. First-generation Spanish immigrants Rafael Guastavino and his son Rafael Jr. oversaw the construction of thousands of spectacular tile vaults across the United States between the 1880s and the 1950s. These versatile, strong, and fireproof vaults were built by Guastavino in more than two hundred major buildings in Manhattan and in hundreds more across the country, including Grand Central Terminal, Carnegie Hall, the Biltmore Estate, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Registry Room at Ellis Island, and many major university buildings. Guastavino Vaulting blends a scholarly history of the technology with archival images, drawings, and stunning photographs that illustrate the variety and endurance of this building method.