Landmark South America
Barolo Palace
The Barolo Palace is a tall, fancy office building in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has a big light at the very top that turns round and round!
The Barolo Palace is an office building on Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires. It was built between 1919 and 1923 and is 100 meters tall with the light at its top. The city says that until 1930 it was the tallest building in Buenos Aires and in South America.
Designed by the Italian architect Mario Palanti for the businessman Luis Barolo, the Barolo Palace was built in 1919-1923 on Avenida de Mayo. An eclectic tower of 22 floors and two basements, it reaches 90 m at its dome and 100 m with its rotating light, and the city calls it a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete.
Photo: Eugenio Hansen, OFS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Barolo Palace
The Barolo Palace is in Buenos Aires, a big city in Argentina.
It is not a palace for a king. It is a tall building full of offices!
The Barolo Palace stands on Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires. The Italian architect Mario Palanti designed it for Luis Barolo, a businessman who brought the first cotton-spinning machines to Argentina.
It was built between 1919 and 1923. Today it is an office building, and the city says that until 1930 it was the tallest building in Buenos Aires and in South America.
The city government's heritage page says Mario Palanti designed the palace at the request of the textile businessman Luis Barolo, who arrived in Argentina in 1890; building began in 1919 and it was inaugurated in 1923. Until 1930 it was the tallest building in the city and in South America, and today it is an office building.
The official site says Barolo met Palanti (1885-1979) at the centenary of the May Revolution and planned the building purely as a rental property.
- Where
- Avenida de Mayo 1370, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Built
- 1919–1923
- Height
- 100 m with its light
- Architect
- Mario Palanti
A special permit to build high
Long ago, buildings on this street were not allowed to be very tall.
The city gave a special permit, so the Barolo Palace could grow much taller!
Buildings on Avenida de Mayo had a height limit. In 1921 the city's mayor gave a special permit, and the Barolo Palace rose almost four times higher than the limit allowed.
The city says the building was inspired by a famous long poem by the Italian writer Dante Alighieri. Its 100-meter height matches the poem's 100 cantos, or sections.
Its height was possible only thanks to a special concession granted by the mayor, Luis Cantilo, in 1921, since it exceeded the maximum allowed on the avenue by almost four times. The plot measured 1,365 m² with a 30.88 m frontage.
The city says Barolo wanted a building inspired by a long poem by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, and that its 100 m height echoes the poem's 100 cantos. From the start the design puzzled people: the official site lists names such as 'Italian remorse', romantic Gothic, sandcastle and near-Venetian Gothic.
Concrete, elevators and its own power
The Barolo Palace was built with strong concrete.
It even made its own electricity!
The city calls the Barolo Palace a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete, and the official site says it was one of the tallest concrete buildings in the world.
It has 22 floors and two basements. The building had its own power plant, so in the 1920s it made its own electricity. It has nine elevators and two freight elevators, and two of the elevators are hidden.
Eclectic in style, the palace was, in the city's words, a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete; the official site calls it one of the tallest reinforced-concrete buildings in the world in its day. It has 24 levels (22 floors and two basements) and a total floor area of 16,630 m².
Its own power plant made it self-sufficient in energy, what the official site calls an 'intelligent building' for the 1920s, and the city adds that the power plant made it possible to design even the smallest objects, such as door handles, lamps and elevator cages, an authentic case of integral design. Two freight elevators brought goods down to its two basements of 1,500 m² each, and two of its nine elevators were hidden, linking Barolo's offices to the basements.
A lighthouse in the city
At the very top of the tower is a big light that turns.
People could see it from Uruguay!
The top of the tower's dome is 90 meters high. Above it sits a large rotating light that brings the building to 100 meters. Both the city and the official site say it could be seen from Uruguay.
The same architect designed a very similar building in Montevideo, Uruguay: the Palacio Salvo.
The official site gives 90 m to the highest point of the dome and 100 m with the large rotating light of 300,000 bujías (candlepower) at the top, which made it visible from Uruguay.
The city notes that Montevideo has an almost identical building, the Palacio Salvo, by the same architect.
- Floors
- 22 plus 2 basements
- Floor area
- 16,630 m²
- Top of the dome
- 90 m
- Elevators
- 9, plus 2 freight elevators
Balconies and a tower
In this photo we look up at the tall building.
It has many rounded balconies, gray-green roofs and a tower that reaches into the blue sky.
This photo was taken on 8 February 2018, looking up from the street. It shows the pale building with rows of windows and rounded balconies, curved gray-green roof sections, the tall tower with its crown-like top, a large arched entrance and trees in front.
Today the Barolo Palace is used as an office building.
The photograph (Eugenio Hansen, own work, 8 February 2018) looks up the front of the building from the avenue: tiers of rounded balconies and bay windows, curved gray-green roof sections, the tower rising to its domed top, and the great arched entrance half hidden by trees.
The city's page calls the building's design an authentic case of integral design, and the palace remains an office building today.
Amazing facts
-
The Barolo Palace has secret elevators!
Two of the Barolo Palace's nine elevators are hidden. They linked Luis Barolo's offices with the basements.
Two hidden elevators ran from Barolo's offices on the ground, first and second floors down to the basements, so he could move without meeting his tenants, who used the floors from the third upward.
-
The building has a near-twin in Uruguay!
The same architect, Mario Palanti, designed the Palacio Salvo in Montevideo, Uruguay, which looks almost the same.
The city notes that Montevideo has an almost identical building, the Palacio Salvo, built by the same architect.
-
The Barolo Palace made its own electricity!
The palace had its own power plant, which made it a kind of 'intelligent building' in the 1920s.
The official site says its own power plant made it self-sufficient in energy, which in the 1920s made it what we would now call an 'intelligent building'.
Words to know
- skyscraper
- a very tall building with many floors
- reinforced concrete
- concrete made stronger with steel bars inside
- architect
- a person who designs buildings
- balcony
- a small platform sticking out from the wall of a building
- dome
- a rounded roof
- power plant
- a place that makes electricity
Discovery challenge
-
Which country is the Barolo Palace in?
In which country is the Barolo Palace?
Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, home of the Barolo Palace, is in which country?
- Argentina
- Spain
- Mexico
Show the answer
Argentina
Argentina!
Argentina.
Argentina.
-
What is at the very top of the Barolo Palace?
What sits at the top of the Barolo Palace's tower?
What brings the Barolo Palace from 90 m at its dome to 100 m?
- A rotating light
- A clock
- A garden
Show the answer
A rotating light
A big light that turns!
A large rotating light.
A large rotating light of 300,000 bujías.
-
Is the Barolo Palace a home for a king, or a building of offices?
What is the Barolo Palace used for today?
According to the city, what is the Barolo Palace today?
- Offices
- A king's home
- A train station
Show the answer
Offices
Offices!
Offices.
An office building.
-
From which country could people see the light on top?
From which country could the light on top be seen?
The city and the official site both say the rotating light was visible from which country?
- Uruguay
- Peru
- Canada
Show the answer
Uruguay
Uruguay!
Uruguay.
Uruguay.
-
How tall is the Barolo Palace with its light?
How tall is the Barolo Palace, counting the light at the top?
What total height does the official site give, with the rotating light?
- 100 meters
- 10 meters
- 1,000 meters
Show the answer
100 meters
100 meters!
100 meters.
100 m (90 m to the top of the dome).
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain what reinforced concrete is and why it helped buildings grow taller.
- Describe why cities limit how tall buildings can be.
- Explain how a building could make its own electricity.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a city give a special permit for one tall building?
- Why would someone put a big light on top of a building?
- What would you put at the top of a tower you designed?
Try at home or in class
- Build two paper towers, one plain and one with a craft stick taped inside, and test which stands up better.
- Find Buenos Aires and Montevideo on a map of South America.
Key vocabulary: skyscraper, reinforced concrete, architect, balcony, dome, power plant
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Palacio Barolo , Buenos Aires Ciudad (Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires)
- Reseña histórica , Palacio Barolo (official site)
- File:Palacio Barolo 10.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.