Better known as “the architect of New York”, Rafael Guastavino, born in Valencia in 1842, decided to cross to the other side of the Atlantic to publicize his skills with a particular vault construction system, which ended up bearing his name. with this same would triumph and reinvent New York architecture and I would use it to star in the flashes of the mythical station, now a ghost, of City Hall.
Under the basement of the New York City Hall square, in the City Hall Parkis one of the great works that frame the career and peak of the architect, New York City Hall Station. The station, known for its vaulted and ornate ceilings with colored tiles and its enormous skylight, it was inaugurated in 1904 to unite midtown Manhattan with 145th Street in Harlem through 28 stations in just 15 minutes. The goal was to match to the metropolitans of London and Paris to configure one of the most important landmarks of world architecture.
But this artistic suburban emblem his days were numbered, since after four decades of operation it ended up being closed to the public in 1945 due to the nearby construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which caused the population to stop using the station so frequently. This play of light and architectural contrasts has ended up abandoned to the passage of time under the tireless city of New York…
Among other of the most important constructions developed by the artist, can be found the Ellis Island Great Hall, interior of the Boston Public Library and part of the Queensboro Bridgewhich connects Manhattan with Long Island.
From Valencia to New York
If I had to define this Valencian architect with one word, it would be brave. With empty pockets and hardly knowing EnglishGuastavino set course for New York in the year 1881 with his young son not knowing that he would become the person who patented one of the most widely used vault systems to date, the tiled vault. Before disembarking in the Big Apple, he left works designed in Spain such as the mythical Can Batlló textile factory in Barcelona and the building of the La Massa Theater of Vilassar de Dalt, in the province of Barcelona, ​​in which its system of domes was the great protagonist.
His works speak of him and it is that his particular system of vaulted construction had a very simple and humble base, as it consisted only of the roof cladding with bricks laid flat and joined by cement, without the need for scaffolding or beams. These bricks were also devised by the artist, made up of a material that would not catch fire. The buildings in New York used to be built largely with wood, so in cases of fire they were much more vulnerable, but with the new model implemented by the architect, the fire could not destroy the buildings.
The low cost of their domes, their simplicity, resistance and color made their works recognized worldwide as ‘made in Guastavino’
The low cost of its domes, its simplicity, its resistance and the use of colored tiles for its lining, which gave it a neogothic touchmade all his works recognized worldwide as ‘made in Guastavino‘, which helped him become one of the greatest exponents of contemporary architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries.
But despite all his legacy and importance, as often happens in many chapters of history with many characters, Raphael Guastavino it was not recognized until much later in his day: his name first appeared in an architecture book in 1972, there are barely three photos of him and the first thesis on his work was not done until 2004 . This artist, who never returned to Spain and has remained anonymous until relatively recently, now has a statue in his hometown, Valencia.
Source: Lasexta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
