Buffalo’s New York Central Terminal is featured prominently in a National Building Museum (NBM) exhibit in Washington DC titled “Palaces for People: Guastavino and America’s Great Public Spaces.” The Exhibit, which runs through January 20th, focuses on the gorgeous and revolutionary tile vault work by the Guastavino family. The family’s New York City masonry company used its patented vault system, composed of layers of thin tiles, to create some of the most spectacular spaces in the world between 1881 and 1962. Many of the buildings which employed their system are grand public rooms. Their vault’s thin, brick like tiles are sometimes glazed or painted to create intricately detailed patterns. But more often the beauty of a Guastavino space is derived from the gentle arc of the vault and the mottled pattern of the naturally colored tiles.
Installation view of the exhibition, Palaces for the People: Guastavino and America’s Great Public Spaces, at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. Photo by John Edmonds; Courtesy National Building Museum.
Buffalo has three indisputably spectacular Guastavino spaces, the lobby of Buffalo City Hall, the sanctuary of the abandoned and endangered St. Francis de Sales RC Church, and the grand lobbies of the New York Central Terminal. Each of these spaces is more beautiful than the next and each easily ranks among the most beautiful interiors in America. The grand concourse of the Central Terminal is possibly the largest Guastavino space produced. It is included in the NBM exhibit as a giant wall mural at one end of the exhibit gallery. The curator’s use of the mural photo mural is an inventive way to convey the gargantuan scale and magnificence of the concourse.
The exhibit also includes an actual Guastavino vault that was created for the show as well as historical artifacts, images, and drawings. If you are heading to DC this is a wonderful museum that is not to be missed. Having one of Buffalo’s treasures there is a bonus. The NMB is a bit off the beaten path and is not part of the Smithsonian so many DC tourists miss out on a real treat. The building was originally constructed as a pension processing center for Civil War veterans. After a period underutilization and near demolition the building was converted to the current museum, dedicated to the study of Architecture, Engineering, and Design. The building alone is worth seeing. The grand scale of the central court with its 75 foot tall Corinthian columns is hard to convey in words and pictures. But that is not all. The truly wonderful thing about the museum building is the intricate frieze band which wraps the entire perimeter depicting the Civil War story. As I said, not to me missed. Also don’t worry, it is a privately financed non-profit so it is still open while the government dithers.
Here is an NPR story on the exhibit with an audio link. See more on Guastavino and the exhibit in this video from the Museum site. There is also a beautifully illustrated book on Guastavino titled “Guastavino Vaulting the Art of Structural Tile.”