Guastavino tile refers to the "Tile Arch System" patented in the US in 1885 by Catalan architect and builder Rafael Guastavino. It is a technique for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terra-cotta tiles and layers of mortar. His work is found in New York’s most beloved landmarks and in major buildings across the country.
Guastavino came to New York City from Barcelona in 1881 at the age of 40 with his nine year old son. In Spain he'd been an accomplished architect (and contemporary of Antoni Gaudi). He and his son would eventually have 24 patents to their name. Their company, Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company, run by father then son, was incorporated in 1889 and executed its final contract in 1962.
The tiles are standardized, less than an inch thick, usually set in three herringbone-pattern courses sandwiched between thin layers of Portland cement. In some cases the vault system was strong enough to be used as its own scaffolding during construction.
Major projects incorporating the distinctive Tile Arch System include the Boston Public Library, Grand Central Terminal, Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Supreme Court building, the National Museum of Natural History, the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West, St. Bart's, the Nebraska State Capitol, and literally hundreds of other major buildings.
The development of the 'temporary' Guastavino dome in the unfinished transcept high up in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is a story unto itself. As of 2005 this temporary fix is coming up to its 100th birthday.
In 1900 NY architects Heins and Lafarge hired Guastavino to help create the underground showpiece station for the first NYC subway. The station, although elegant, was never convenient or popular, and after it closed in 1945 the City Hall (IRT Lexington Avenue Line station) became the legendary abandoned Manhattan underground relic, a secret of subway buffs and urban spelunkers.
After experiencing Ellis Island as incoming immigrants, in 1917 Guastavino Senior and Junior were commissioned to rebuild the ceiling of the Great Hall. The Guastavinos set 28,832 tiles into a self-supporting interlocking 56-foot-high ceiling grid so durable and strong that during the restoration project of the 1980’s, as many sources repeat the story, only 17 of those tiles needed replacing.
Guastavino tile has both structural and aesthetic significance. Structurally, the timbrel vault was based on traditional vernacular vaulting techniques already quite familiar to Mediterranean architects. Terra-cotta free-span timbrel vaults were far more economical and structurally sound than the ancient Roman vaulting alternatives, and did not rely on mass and gravity for strength. Their logic, economy and shape look forward to geodesic domes.
The Guastavino Tile Arch Systems are also beautiful, expressing their own internal structural logic, introducing ornamental detail and curved surfaces with a specific relationship to human scale. They have a timeless, taut, sensual quality.
