A transportive work of historical fiction chronicling the life, loves, and larger-than-life successes of Rafael Guastavino, an influential yet largely forgotten Spanish architect of New York’s Gilded Era
Iconoclast. Genius. Womanizer. Architect Rafael Guastavino’s signature vaulted tile ceilings revolutionized Gilded Age New York City. The Oyster Bar in Grand Central, the Prospect Park Boathouse, and the iconic Old City Hall subway stop, number among his masterpieces. But while his works continue to imbue the city with the glamor of a bygone era, the man himself has been largely forgotten. Until now.
Told through the eyes of Guastavino’s son and business partner, Javier Moro’s magnetic prose brings to life the remarkable rags-to-riches journey of this influential immigrant family. Guastavino was a stubborn man, enamored of his own sense of destiny, but he was also a deeply compassionate father, as committed to his family as he was to his work, and equally defined by his successes in the latter realm as by his failures in the former.
Set against historical events including the Chicago World's Fair and the sinking of the Titanic, The Architect of New York is a moving and entertaining father-son story filled with finely developed and deeply researched real-life characters (including figures like Stanford White) that captures the glamor and drama of a bygone era while offering a perrenial glimpse into the human heart.