Immigrant success in stone?

You will find them inside office buildings, libraries and train stations; the tile vaults, domes and arches which act as skeletons holding up massive American landmarks. It was a Spanish immigrant father and his son who built these feats of engineering in world landmarks such as Ellis Island, New York's Grand Central Station and five U.S. state capitol buildings. Yet this immigrant family's place in history was largely forgotten, until now.

The works of Rafael Guastavino and his son Rafael, Jr. are the subject of an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. The father-son team built over 1,000 projects nationwide; the museum focuses on 250 commissioned works built by the family.

The vaulted ceiling of the Ellis Island Registry Room is the work of Rafael Guastavino, Jr. He and his father, Rafael Guastavino Sr., are the subject of an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.

This is a great American story, said John Ochsendorf, a civil engineering professor at MIT and the exhibit's director. The works showcase the essential skills immigrants like the Guastavinos have brought to the country, he explained in an interview.

No one could predict when [Guastavino] arrived to New York in 1881 that by the time of his death 27 years later he would be responsible for all of these incredible buildings, Ochsendorf said.

It is also a reminder that buildings and parks contain the living culture and history of our towns and cities. Rafael Guastavino arrived at a time when New York was booming with factories and businesses. Years later, his son Rafael Jr. would build the long-arched ceilings of the Registry Room at Ellis Island, which welcomed millions of immigrants to America.

The golden age of manufacturing created many opportunities for the Guastavino family. Today, tourists from around the world can see the father and son's vaulted ceilings at New York City landmarks such as the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal, the Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Carnegie Hall and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in upper Manhattan.

While the Spanish immigrant family is being recognized centuries later for their mastery of complex and beautiful structures, the reality is that like many immigrants, they had to use their skills to overcome setbacks and adversity.

Rafael Guastavino, Sr.

Guastavino did not come to this country to build vaults, said Ochsendorf. He wanted to succeed as an architect. But after many failures, he discovered that the [vaulting] skills that he carried in his back pocket were much more desirable to many American architects.

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Immigrant success in stone?