Palacio Barolo
Mario Palanti · Buenos Aires, Argentina · 1923
Mario Palanti’s Palacio Barolo is a highly symbolic office building whose composition draws on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Base, tower and beacon were conceived as architectural analogues for Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, while a powerful axial entrance leads into richly detailed internal passages. The building combined reinforced-concrete technology with an eclectic language at an unprecedented urban scale for Buenos Aires. Its illuminated lighthouse and distinctive crown remain major landmarks on Avenida de Mayo.