Description The Spanish architects Rafael Guastavino Sr. and Jr. designed more than one thousand iconic spaces across New York City and the United States, including the Manhattan Federal Reserve Bank, the Nebraska State Capitol, the Great Hall of Ellis Island, the Oyster bar at Grand Central Station, the Elephant House at the Bronx Zoo, the tiled vaults under the Queensboro Bridge, the central dome of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, and the Boston Public Library. Written in the voice of the son, who was eight years old in 1881 when he immigrated to America with his father, this is their story..American cities -- densely packed and built largely of wood -- were experiencing horrific fires, and the Guastavinos had the solution: The soaring interior spaces created by their tiled vaults and domes made buildings sturdier, fireproof, and beautiful. But the father, unable to speak fluent English, could not win design commissions and had to take work as an illustrator; it was the son who finally fulfilled their dreams.