Guastavino structural calculations

Abstract

The Guastavino Company designed and constructed thousands of incredible thin shell masonry domes, arches, and staircases in America from the 1880s to the 1960s. This thesis traces the design process of the Guastavino Company from the late 1890s to the mid-1900s through their original structural drawings held at the Avery Library Archives at Columbia University. The drawings are analyzed to reveal the Guastavino Company's innovation of graphic statics techniques, advanced calculations, and strategic designs. No one has ever studied the original drawings. The design process for Guastavino Jr.'s arches and domes is formed through the examination of the barrel vault calculation drawing for the St. Francis de Sales Church (Philadelphia, PA - 1908) and the dome calculation drawing for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (NY, NY - 1909). The research presents the ingenuity of the Guastavino Company in their structural calculations and in particular, Rafael Guastavino Jr.'s outstanding contributions.