Built between 1919 and 1923, El Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While designing the building, the Italian architect Mario Palanti took inspiration from Dante’s Divine Comedy. So, Palanti designed 22 floors divided into three sections. The first section containing the basement and the ground floor represents hell. Then, floors 1-14 follow as the purgatory section, and finally, floors 15-22 represent heaven. Moreover, each meter of the 100-meter-tall building represents a canto from the Divine Comedy.
El Palacio Barolo was the tallest building in South America until the construction of the Kavanagh Building in 1936.
The Eclectic design of the structure combines Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Gothic elements. The central hall features Latin inscriptions and monster statues. In the interior, there are nine vaulted archways pouring from a central dome, representing nine circles of hell. Inspired by a Hindu Temple dedicated to love, the dome represents Dante’s union with his beloved Beatrice.
