World’s tallest buildings, circa 1884

Before peeking ahead, quick quiz: as 1884 came to a close, what was the tallest building in the world? It’s the one in the middle of this beautiful diagram of The Principal High Buildings of the Old World from Cram’s Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World:

That’s right, the Washington Monument was the tallest building in the world for about five years before the Eiffel Tower, at almost double the height of the Washington Monument, took over the top spot for more than 40 years. (via modcult)

• architecture
• Eiffel Tower
• infoviz
• Washington Monument

Original plans for the Eiffel Tower

A dozen or so scans of the original plans for the Eiffel Tower.

• architecture
• Eiffel Tower