Palacio Barolo inspired by Dante's Inferno

The Palacio Barolo in Argentina, designed by Marcio Palanti, is based on the structure and content of Dante's Divine Comedy. It used to be South America's tallest building. One of the largest monuments inspired by Dante, the palace is one of the few buildings that attempts to incorporate Dante into its architecture. The palace was built when Dante fanatic Luis Barolo hired Marcio Palanti to design the building because he believed that Europe had begun drifting towards a collapse. He wanted the ashes of his hero, Dante, to be housed in the safe palace. Marcio Palanti was also a big fan of Dante and excitedly agreed to design the palace in honor of Dante. The building is one hundred meters high, which corresponds to the one hundred cantos of Dante’s work. The overall design structure is based on the number most prevalent in the Divine Comedy: twenty two. The building’s twenty two floors reflect the number of stanzas in the epic poem. The palace also illustrates the visitors journey through hell, purgatory and paradise as visitors climb their way to the top. Furthermore,the nine access points within the building represent the nine circles of Hell. The still working lighthouse represents the nine angelic choirs. The coolest part of the building, I think, is the Southern Cross constellation on top of the lighthouse. It aligns with the actual constellation on July 9th, Argentine Independence Day.