europe / originals

list of tall buildings in 1921



this collection includes buildings of least 40 meters tall that were completed before 1945. Buildings that are shorter than 40 meters but possess skyscraperesque features are included in this list, though they are not ranked

giraffes
during this period, a significant number of 'giraffe' buildings were constructed. A giraffe is defined as a low-rise building with a tower integrated into its design. To qualify for inclusion in this collection, the tower section must have habitable floors occupying more than fifty percent of its total height

color codes
  later reconstructed      later demolished

# name city height usage year
1 Royal Liver Building Liverpool 104 office 1911
2 Victoria Tower London 99 storage 1860
3 Siemensturm Berlin 71 office 1918
4 Ginzburg House   Kyiv 63 residential 1912
5 Behrensbau Berlin 60 office 1917
6 Sankt Erikspalatset Stockholm 58 residential / office 1910
7 De Inktpot Utrecht 58 office 1921
8 Rathaus Augsburg 57 city hall 1624
9 Midland Grand Hotel London 57 hotel 1873
10 Balmoral Hotel Edinburgh 56 hotel 1902
11 Polska Akcyjna Spółka Telefoniczna Warsaw 52 office 1910
12 Mathematische Turm Kremsmünster 49 observatory / museum 1758
13 Queen Anne's Mansions   London 49 residential 1890
14 Philips Lichttoren Eindhoven 48 office 1921
15 Strand Hotel Stockholm 47 hotel 1912
16 Sjömansinstitutet Stockholm 47 office 1914
17 Bau 15 Jena 47 office 1915
18 Tower Building Liverpool 46 office 1908
19 Yusuf Ziya Pasha Mansion Istanbul 46 residential 1911
20 Fairy-Tale House   Saint Petersburg 45 residential 1909
21 Edificio Metrópolis Madrid 45 office 1911
22 The Langham London 44 hotel 1865
23 City Chambers Edinburgh 42 office 1760
24 Witte Huis Rotterdam 42 office 1898
25 Nirnsee House Moscow 41 residential 1915
26 Narva-Turm Berlin 40 office 1909
27 Beyer-Bau Dresden 40 observatorium 1913
- Gebouw Astoria Amsterdam 37 office 1905
- Hotel Savoy Łódź 37 hotel 1911
- Lietuvos geležinkeliai Vilnius 36 office 1903
- Market Street storehouse Dublin 36 storage 1904
- Afremov House Moscow 35 residential 1905
- De Utrecht Amsterdam 35 office 1906
- The Yellow Building Sofia 35 office 1914
- Immeuble Cateland Lyon 31 residential 1911
- Trinity Compound on Ilyinka Moscow 30 residential 1876
- Casa Lancia   Milan 30 office 1907
- Tour Chicago Paris 30 storage 1912
- 48 Rue de Valois Paris 26 hotel / residential 1781
- Oriel Chambers Liverpool 21 office 1864
- Ditherington Flax Mill Shrewsbury 17 factory 1797