continued
from January 2009 newsletter
The museum is in a former textile factory that contains some of the
most extraordinary examples of Catalan Vaulting constructed during the
Spanish industrial revolution. Kent presented the most recent iteration
of the Guastavino Timeline,
discussed Vertical Access's experiences with Guastavino tile assemblies
in the United States and introduced the St. Francis de Sales project in
Philadelphia, which Derek discussed in detail. Other friends who
presented include Jose Luis Gonzalez of the Departament de
Construccions Arquitectoniques at the Universitat Politecnica de
Catalunya and Mar Loren of the School of Architecture, Seville
University.
After Derek's return to the United States, Kent had an opportunity to visit the Teatre La Massa in Vilassar de Dalt
about half an hour up the coast from Barcelona. This was Rafael
Guastavino y Moreno's last project in Spain, and he was on a ship bound
for the US with his son about two weeks after completing the work. This
was also Guastavino's first non-industrial project and there are some
that feel that the success of the Teatre la Massa may have given him
the confidence and motivation to emigrate to the United States and
pursue additional public work. Since the Teatre la Massa reportedly
never performed well acoustically, it may also have been the incentive
for future collaborations between he and his son, Rafael Guastavino y
Esposito with Wallace Sabine of Harvard and the development of "Rumsford" and "Acoustalith" tiles with acoustic properties. National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia: north-facing lights illuminated from the interior.
National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia ceilings.
Scale model of the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia.
Derek Trelstad at the Hospital de Sant Pau
Teatre La Massa in Vilassar de Dalt interior, from the stage.
The "chandelier" is an architectural device that both improves the
acoustics and provides lighting, sound and other mechanical
improvements to the space.
National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia ceilings.
Scale model of the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia.
Derek Trelstad at the Hospital de Sant Pau
Teatre La Massa in Vilassar de Dalt interior, from the stage.
The "chandelier" is an architectural device that both improves the
acoustics and provides lighting, sound and other mechanical
improvements to the space.