GUASTAVINO GRANDEUR
Much of the architecture in this city is so unmistakably New York - even if their elements have homes in other cities. One architect who fits this bill is Rafael Guastavino. I'll never get bored or uninspired staring up at his vaults. They have the power to make you forget about everything else around you. As a contemporary of Gaudi (another one of my favorite architects), Guastavino didn't believe in subtlety, and saw form and function as equals in this world. Whether you're treating your eyes to one of his subway stations or dining at a restaurant with his vaults swooping over your shoulders, you're filled with a deep sense of beauty and grandeur. Guastavino somehow - and miraculously - isn't overstated.
But with a wink, he reminds us to keep our heads up.
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Rafael Guastavino, born in Valencia in 1842, studied architecture and construction in Barcelona, and imported to the U.S. the build system used for centuries in Catalonia (from the Middle Age land of both cities).
It is a fact that Gaudà (born catalan in 1852) and Guastavino were contemporaries and shared the same building tradition. Both were masters building masonry vaults.