Even the oldest buildings, roads, and structures can hold incredible beauty and character. Much of that charm comes from the skill and imagination of the architects who designed them. Some of these historic designs have a uniqueness that modern architecture simply can’t replicate.
That’s exactly what the Lost Architecture Reddit community celebrates — showcasing remarkable architectural works from the past, created by builders and designers from around the world. Scroll down to explore these timeless creations.
#1 Just why
#2 The Old London Bridge was the longest inhabited bridge in Europe
#3 Park Avenue in 1920s New York
#4 Built in 1504, demolished in 1910. What was the oldest house in Hamburg, Germany. Credit Insta: historyblackandwhite
#5 The original Neue Elbbrücke Bridge from 1887-1959 in Hamburg, Germany.
#6 World Trade Center. New York City, USA. Built in 1973, destroyed in 2001
#7 Konigsberg Castle and it’s Gradual Ruined state until it’s destruction in 1967.
#8 Salzhaus. Frankfurt am Main. 1600-1944.
# 9 Sibley Breaker, Pennsylvania, built in 1886 and destroyed by fire in 1906.
#10 Times Square (1919) Before all the renovations and billboards.
#11 Villa Wirmer, built in 1886 in Hanover, Germany in a local Hanover Brick Gothic Revival style – one of the few remaining pieces of pre-war architecture in the city – demolished in 1971 for a car park.
#12 The Royal Opera House in Valletta, Malta (1911). Built in 1866, it was destroyed in World War II from a direct hit by Luftwaffe bombers
#13 Kowloon walled city: this former military base turned into china’s tightest city, it was demolished in 1994
#14 Ludgate Hill, London. Late 1800’s. Bombed in WW2 replaced with modern architecture.
#15 Colored photograph of Dresden, Germany (1890) before the bombing of 1945.
#16 San Francisco’s Cliff House 1896–1907
#17 The Original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC, demolished in 1929 to serve as the site for the Empire State building.
#18 St. Peter’s Hospital, Bristol, England. Built in the late 14th century as a merchant’s house, destroyed in the Bristol Blitz in 1940.
#19 Ever wondered what the flatiron building in NY replaced?
#20 Los Angeles in 1918, nothing here survived to the present day.
#21 Medieval town of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. Once one of the most picturesque and pristine Late Medieval towns in Europe. Destroyed on March 22nd, 1945, one month before the War’s end
#22 Victorian Downtown San Francisco C.1880’s, Before the 1906 Great Earthquake & Fire
#23 Pennsylvania Station, the destruction of which prompted the creation of NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.
#24 A street in St. Louis that doesn’t exist anymore
#25 Sioux City’s Corn Palaces 1887-1891. Erected annually to celebrate the bountiful harvest.
#26 Aerial photo of Nuremberg’s Old Town taken in 1936. Before the war, it was the largest and one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe.
#27 Old Manila, Philippines before World War II… some buildings have been reconstructed but most of the historic district of the city never recovered.
#28 A photo I’ve never seen of Cliff House before. San Fran, photographed in 1906
#29 Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, New Jersey, designed by Martin Stern Jr. in 1984, demolished by controlled implosion earlier today. It had stood unused and empty since its 2014 closure and was beginning to deteriorate.
#30 Chicago Town and Tennis Club. Built 1924. Demolished 2020, despite a private offer to move the building to a Chicago park. Future site of a dormitory.
