Guastavino Vaulting

by John Ochsendorf

Excerpt reproduced by permission of Princeton Architectural Press

Italic page numbers indicate drawings, photographs, and other illustrations.

Abele, Julian, 180, 183

acoustical architecture, 132–34, 142, 170, 182, 185, 185

Akoustolith tile, 132–33, 132–33, 142, 180, 181, 185, 244n22

American building/construction practices, 42

American Concrete Institute, 186

American infrastructure and industry, 137–45

American Institute of Architects (AIA), 64, 174, 198

American Renaissance, 150–53

Architectural League of New York, 114, 174

Arion Club (New York City), 45

Army War College (Washington, DC). See U.S. Army War College

art deco, 114, 137, 142, 144–45, 147

Art Nouveau, 35, 241n7, 246n13

Arte y Uso de Architectura (San Nicolas), 21

Arts and Crafts Movement, 170, 172

Asheville (NC), 80, 108–9

See also Biltmore estate; St. Lawrence Basilica

Asland Cement Factory (Castellar de N’Hug, Spain), 214, 215–17, 240, 246n13

Astor tennis courts, 203, 204–5

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company of New York, 167, 167

Austin, Peter, 105

Aymerich, Amat, and Jover Wool Factory (Terrassa, Spain), 214

Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC), 211, 211

Baker Hall, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh), 203, 238

Barcelona Exposition of Agriculture, Industry, and Fine Arts (1871), 35

Barcelona International Exhibition (1929), 147

Barclay-Vesey Telephone Building (New York City), 142, 231, 244n37

Basilica de los Desamparados (Valencia), 108

Basilica di Santa Maria del Flore (Florence), 126

Basilica of St. Lawrence. See St. Lawrence Basilica

Batlló factory (Barcelona), 25, 25–27, 29, 30–33, 31, 35, 214, 240, 242n32

Beaux-Arts architecture

American, 64

City Beautiful Movement and, 92

Guastavino Company prosperity and, 150–52

vs. Guastavino Sr.’s training, 25

Guastavino vaults in, 114

Guastavinos’ contributions to, 64

masonry construction and, 71

McKim, Mead and White as leaders, 96

vs. modernism, 170

revival waning, 142, 147

Belmás, Mariano, 214

Benton, Edward R., 48, 53, 243n21

Bernard Levy houses (New York City), 45, 233, 242n7

Beth Israel Temple (West Hartford, CT), 167

Biltmore estate (Asheville, NC), 64, 71, 72–79, 76, 104, 109, 237, 243n17

Birmingham Terminal Station (AL), 92

Black Mountain (NC) estate, 104, 104–5, 109

Blodgett, Malcolm, 147, 194

Blodgett, William, 58, 76, 80–81, 104, 115, 147

Blondel, Jacques-François, 22

Bogotá observatory (Colombia), 22, 23

Bonet, Jordi, 220

Boston band shell (MA), 188

Boston fire, 45

Boston Public Library, 42–60

accident during construction, 58, 58

as collaborative effort, 48

competition lost by Guastavino Sr., 45

among extant buildings, 228

financial issues, 76

influence, 47–48, 150

patent for flanged tile, 156

structural systems, 142

Boston University Chapel (MA), 184

Boston University, Marsh Plaza (MA), 183

The Breakers (Newport, RI), 71, 239

Brigham, Charles, 86

Bristol County Courthouse (Taunton, MA), 67, 70, 70, 142, 228, 242n36

Bronx Zoo Elephant House (New York City), 118, 119, 231

Brooklyn Bridge, 42

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 96

Brunelleschi, Filippo, 126, 244n7

Buffalo Central Terminal (NY), 132, 142, 143

Buhl Planetarium (Pittsburgh), 186, 186, 187, 188, 238

building codes, 102, 152, 154, 185–86, 211

See also safety in construction practices

Camilo Juliá house (Barcelona), 35, 35, 240

Carnegie Hall (New York City), 59, 232

Carnegie Mellon University, Baker Hall (Pittsburgh), 203, 238

Carrère, John Merven, 150

Carrère and Hastings architectural firm, 64, 67

“Catalan Architecture” (Puig i Cadafalch lecture), 104

Catalan Art Nouveau, 35, 241n7, 246n13

Catalan vaulting, 104, 147, 221, 223, 244n43

See also tile vaulting

Catedral Primada (Bogota), 22

Cathedral of Learning (Pittsburgh), 180, 239

Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York City)

construction methods, 126

construction photos, 117, 122–25

dome, 120, 126, 165

as extant building, 232

as Guastavino Jr.’s crowning’ achievement, 117, 126

illustrated, 116

national/international attention, 123

newspaper account, 123

spiral stairs, 152, 153

steel reinforcement, 126

vaults, 165, 166

Cathedral of St. Philip (Atlanta), 194

Centennial Exposition (Philadelphia), 35

centering (construction technique), 20, 21, 115, 244n7

Central Congregational Church (Providence, RI), 67, 67–69, 239

Century Hall (Breslau, Poland), 186

ceramic arts, 126–31, 203

Chapel of Our Lady (St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville, NC), 109, 111, 111

Chicago fire, 45, 45

Chicago World’s Fair (1893), 150

Church of Christ Scientist (Boston), 84–85, 86, 228

City Beautiful Movement, 86–87, 92

City Hall Subway Station (New York City), 87, 88–91, 126, 235

civil engineering projects, 96, 102

clay sources, 80

cohesion myths, 55, 57–58, 221, 243n35

“Cohesive Construction, Its Past, Its Present, Its Future” (Guastavino Sr. lecture), 66

Collens, Charles, 180

Collins, George R., 50, 57, 223, 244n43

Columbia University School of Architecture, 203

Columbia University, St. Paul’s Chapel. See St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University

Columbian Exposition of 1893 (Chicago), 64–66, 70–71, 214

Comerma, John, 165, 167

Congress of the American Institute of Architects, 64

Cooper, Frank Irving, 70

Cours d’architecture (Blondel), 22

Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson architectural firm, 132

Cram, Ralph Adams, 132–33, 150, 173, 183

Cram and Ferguson architectural firm, 180, 183

Cuban Ministry of Construction, 221

Cuban National Arts School (Havana), 220–21

Culmann, Karl, 162

Dater Residence (Montecito, CA), 170

The Decorator and Furnisher (journal), 43–44

Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western (DL&W) railroad station (Hoboken, NJ), 87, 92, 230

Delft ceramics, 128

Depression, 147, 180

Dieste, Eladio, 155

Dischinger, Franz, 155, 186

Domènech i Montaner, Lluis, 19, 214

domes

conical, 70

construction methods, 111, 115, 120, 123, 126–27, 151, 173–74, 180, 182, 185–89, 194

construction photos, 187, 189, 210

costs, 188–89, 194

double, 98, 119–20, 151, 157, 163

elliptical, 70, 105, 106, 108–9, 157, 244n48

flat, 76

forces, 164–65

Guastavino domes, 67, 73, 96, 151, 162–63

hemispherical, 162, 186

historical contexts, 22, 123

load testing, 245n4

long-span, 147

masonry, 96, 120, 123, 151, 151, 210–11

spherical, 39, 114, 124, 126

steel in, 151, 151, 186, 186–87, 188, 210–11

strength, 211, 213

See also specific buildings

Duke University Chapel (Durham, NC), 134, 180, 183, 184, 237

Duke University Library (Durham, NC), 183

Dyckerhoff and Widmann architectural firm, 186

East Liberty Church (Pittsburgh), 180

École des Beaux-Arts (Paris), 64, 67

Edison Electric Pearl Street power station (New York City), 59, 243n46

Eiffel, Gustave, 162

Ellis Island Registry Hall (New York City), 212, 213, 232, 246n10

Escola Especial de Mestres d’Obres (Barcelona), 19, 25, 35

Espie, Félix François d’, 22, 24, 54, 242n27

An Essay on the History and Theory of Cohesive Construction Applied Especially to the Timbrel Vault (Guastavino), 54, 54

Essay on the Theory of Cohesive Construction (Guastavino Sr.), 66

Ewing, William Wallace, 214

exposed tile. See tile patterns/exposed surfaces

Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Paris), 142

Fellheimer and Wagner architectural firm, 142

Fine Arts Medal of the AIA, 174

fire testing, 154, 154, 214

fireproofing

eighteenth-century European, 22, 24

Guastavino Sr.’s advancements, 42–43, 46 , 47–48, 50, 58

nineteenth-century American, 45

patents, 47, 155

tile vaulting as, 50

Woburn tile factory and, 81

First Church of Christ Scientist (New York City), 153, 233

First Congregational Church (Montclair, NJ), 133

flying buttresses, 120, 120, 198

Forsyth Dental Institute (Boston), 127, 228

Franch, Juan, 21, 25

Franklin Institute (Philadelphia), 183, 238

Gaudí, Antonio, 19, 214, 220, 245n19

German Pavilion (Barcelona International Exhibition), 147

Gilbert, Cass, 96, 150, 157, 213

Gómez-Ferrer, Mercedes, 21

Goodhue, Bertram, 132–33, 170, 170, 172–74, 203

Goodyear Theater (Akron, OH), 132, 237

Gothic architecture (medieval), 21, 120, 180

Gothic revival architecture, 42, 64–66, 114, 147, 180–85

Gould Library, New York University (New York City), 96, 97

Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), 187, 227

Grace Universalist Church (Lowell, MA), 114–15, 115, 228

Graham, Edward T.P., 127

Grand Central Terminal, Oyster Bar (New York City), 128, 138, 140, 142, 154, 233, 255n18

graphic statics, 162, 165, 245n19

gravity system, 54

Greco, Charles R., 183

Greek Orthodox Church (Milwaukee), 189, 194

Guastavino, Rafael (Guastavino Jr.’s son), 194

Guastavino Company (Guastavino Jr.), 114–47, 150–67

acoustical architecture, 132–34

advertised, 181, 185, 187

American infrastructure and industry, 137–45

American Renaissance and, 150–53

challenged by modernism, 147

vs. competition, 155, 165, 167, 189

crowning achievements, 116–26

decline, 170–95, 213

engineering and, 186, 188–89, 194

expansions, 114–15, 123, 150

Guastavino Jr. residence, 134–37

influence, 213–14, 220–21

innovations, 115, 133, 155–57

legacy, 198–223

See also specific buildings

Guastavino Company (Guastavino Sr.), 64–110, 150–67

advertised, 59

American Renaissance and, 150–52

vs. competition, 155, 165, 167

decline, 170–95, 213

expanded by tile production, 58–60, 80–81, 86

fire testing, 154, 154

founded, 50, 198

influence, 213–14, 220–21

innovations, 29–30, 35, 86, 155–57

legacy, 198–223

mortar joint innovation, 86

offices, 46

tile vaulting innovations, 155–56

See also specific buildings

Guastavino Exposito, Rafael (Guastavino Jr.)

biographical sketch, 114–15

death, 194

domestic life, 134

education, 194

hangar designs, 194, 194

national attention, 122, 123

photo, 137

residence, 134–36, 134–37, 244n34

on the Rodef Shalom dome, 96

on the St. John the Divine dome, 123

St. Lawrence Basilica and, 111

on the St. Paul’s Chapel dome, 96

talents, 156–57

See also Guastavino Company (Guastavino Jr.)

Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company. See Guastavino Company (Gustavino Sr.)

Guastavino Memorial Chapel (St. Lawrence Basilica), 110–11, 111

Guastavino Moreno, Rafael (Guastavino Sr.)

as architect, 45, 47

death, 109

domestic life, 39

early commissions, 25–33

education, 18–20, 19, 24–25, 241n7, 242n2

estate, 104, 104–5

family background, 18

final project, 104–5

financial issues, 44, 76

influence, 212–21

as lecturer, 54, 58, 64–68, 70, 104, 105

moves to the U.S., 39, 42

photos, 19, 43, 49, 104, 109

retirement, 104, 104–5

talents, 156–57

See also Batlló factory; Bernard Levy houses; Bogotá observatory; Camilo Juliá house; Guastavino Company (Guastavino Sr.); La Massa theater