Raffaele Riva was an Italian architect and engineer in the late 19th century. Raffaele Riva is best known for designing the Statue of Liberty, but he also worked on numerous other projects, such as Washington Square Arch. Despite his contributions to society and his skill as an architect, he died broke in New York City at the age of just 42 years old.
This article explores Riva’s life, work, and accomplishments. In addition to highlighting some important events from Riva’s life, like his commissioning from Emma Lazarus for a statue at her request during a Massachusetts trip, it also discusses why Raffaele Riva and his skills went unrecognized during his lifetime and why it is appropriate that he was a poor man when he died.
“If I can help the poor man in the alley, the rich man’s son will pay for it.” Emma Lazarus
Raffaele Riva was born in Venice, Italy. His father, who worked as a warehouseman, died when Riva was still an infant. He was raised by his mother and attended school until age 16, when he started work as a draftsman at a company called Istituti Bertoni & C.
While working for Istituti Bertoni & C., Riva developed his architectural skills by working on various projects at the firm. Examples of these projects include:
- Renovations to the Palazzo Dandolo.
- A palace on Venice’s waterfront.
- A design for the erection of a memorial to Dante Alighieri on the same site where he was born.
Raffaele Riva was still working there when he received an invitation from his friend, Benedetto Patella, to go to America in 1875. Patella knew Riva had experience working with architects and designers at Bertoni’s office, so he thought Riva could help him with some architectural problems in New York City. Patella worked as an architect and teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). See this page for related information.
More about Riva on https://raffaeleriva.com/