In 1881, the Valencian Rafael Guastavino landed in New York fleeing a Spain where he was persecuted for fraud. So he embarked on the American dream in the company of his second wife Paulina Roig and three children, of which only 9-year-old little Rafael was his son. In fact, in a matter of months, parent and offspring were left alone, since Paulina sensed a dark future and crossed the pond again with her two daughters.
Nothing predicted what would happen. Guastavino only had ingenuity, daring and natural people skills. With those wickers plus his memories of Mediterranean architecture and his experience as a builder, he began to interact with local architects desperate to find materials that would stop the fires that regularly devastated Manhattan. And there emerged Guastavino’s talent, providing the flat brick partitioned vaults inspired by what he saw as a child in Valencian buildings.
A system that he patented and modernized to be used for years in several hundred buildings in New York and other cities in the United States. He created, with the occasional bankruptcy, a construction company that the main architectural firms turned to. As well as great fortunes of the moment, the Rockefellers or the Vanderbilts, because Rafael senior always combined his talent as a master builder with his charm for public relations. And while the company prospered, Rafael Junior became an excellent builder and a better manager than his father.
It was with the scion at the head of the company that iconic works arrived. For example, the dome of the Church of Saint John the Divine in New York, several state capitols, and various monuments in Washington were erected. Furthermore, his vaults covered the Great Hall of Ellis Island in 1917, welcoming the thousands of immigrants who crossed the ocean to conquer the promised land, just as the Guastavinos had done.
In total, they participated in more or less a thousand works in the United States, Canada or Cuba. But of all the buildings they built, the most visited of all is the Grand Central Terminal. It is estimated that more than 700,000 people pass through here every day. And not just to take their trains. The great New York station is much more than that. It is a leisure, restaurant, commerce and tourist attraction located in the heart of Midtown.
Since its inauguration in 1913 it was a monument to modernity. The Vanderbilts, railroad magnates and promoters of the work, committed themselves to this, commissioning the architects Reed
And on them they built a colossal building with the best professionals, like the Warrens
It is known as Main Concurse and has been welcoming the crowds that circulate here for decades. It is a lobby with more than 3,000 m2 of surface. And in such dimensions there are many details capable of making you miss the boat. Starting with its blue roof. It is as if it opened to the sky, since it is a celestial vault with the representation of the constellations of the horoscope. Although those who are used to observing the sky soon discover that the Frenchman Paul Helleu painted the zodiac upside down.
Beyond the mistake, the striking color of the vault and the windows that raise it above the light is the image of Grand Central. More so now that its tone is fully appreciated, because it was not always like this. The decades-long smoke, not from trains but from tobacco, darkened it to incredible limits, as evidenced by an unrestored black stain. Where? Obviously close to the sign of Cancer. But now its aquamarine tone shines so much that not even the enormous American flag that has hung here since 9/11 detracts from its prominence.
Although the attractions of this lobby are also at ground level. For example, the ticket offices, underused today, are a decorative delight. Here and there there is no shortage of marble staircases, balustrades, chandeliers, moldings or reliefs adorning each room, almost always with omnipresent acorns and oak leaves. A kind of heraldry of the Vanderbilts, who expressed their empire arising from humility with the phrase “from an acorn a mighty oak will grow.”
Although nothing attracts as many eyes as the Tiffany’s clock at the information point. Visible from any point, it is valued at more than 10 million dollars. And that is not punctual. In fact, no clock inside Grand Central Terminal is. Everyone walks a minute ahead so that passengers arrive at the platforms on time. And tens of thousands of people who pass through here every day do not plan to get on any train.
They go shopping at brand name stores or at the gourmet market inside the station. Just like they visit the temporary exhibitions at Vanderbilt Hall. Or they go down to the ground floor to eat in one of the restaurants sheltered under the Guastavino vaults. Among them the Oyster Bar, very present in travel and gastronomic programs, as well as movies and series. For example, it was Don Draper’s favorite restaurant in Mad Men.
That successful fiction was set in the 60s, a decade of low hours for Grand Central Terminal. Even in 1968, it was considered demolishing it to make more use of its coveted square meters in the heart of Manhattan. However, a group of personalities opposed the speculation and stopped the demolition. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a champion of the cause, arguing the enormous heritage that the property represented. Among other things for the work of the Guastavinos. In fact, it was from then on that the enormous work that these Spanish builders had done, whose memory had remained in the shadow of the gigantic skyscrapers of New York, began to be re-studyed.
Next to the legendary Oyster Bar, opened in 1913 at the same time as the station, is the Whispering Gallery. There Guastavino’s ceramic vault is more than an architectural system. It is a tourist attraction to marvel at hearing even the quietest sounds traveling from one corner of the room to another. There is always someone stationed in those corners to send a message to the other side. Sometimes they are declarations of love in the middle of a romantic trip to New York. And it’s even the scene of marriage proposals! But it’s just an idea, you don’t need to commit to confirm the magical acoustics of the vault, a joke to a friend or even a stranger is also fine.
