Rafael Guastavino

Rafael Guastavino Moreno (Valencia, Spain, 1842 – Asheville, North Carolina 1908) was a Spanish architect and builder. Based on the Catalan vault he created the Guastavino tile, a "Tile Arch System" patented in the United States in 1885 used for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terracotta tiles and layers of mortar. 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 used in a huge number of architecturally important and famous buildings with vaulted spaces. Guastavino was not the principal architect for most of the projects.

In 1881 he came to New York City from Barcelona, with his youngest son, nine-year-old Rafael III. In Spain he had been an accomplished architect trained in Barcelona and was a contemporary of Antoni Gaudi. In the March 7, 1885 article entitled The Dakota Apartment House, printed in The Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, he was listed as being the contractor in charge of "fireproof construction" of the luxury apartment building that was completed in 1884. Though not specified, the work may very well have included the groined vault entry on the south side on West 72nd Street, 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. Years later he was commissioned by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White's 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, he eventually was offered a construction position in 1890 with George W. Vanderbilt to construct arches for the new mansion, Biltmore at Asheville, North Carolina.

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