The postcard has quite the storied history. The first known picture postcard was sent from Vienna as a souvenir, but images of the sparkling new Eiffel Tower in 1889 gave impetus to the postcard, leading to the little convenient cards’ golden age at the turn of the century. The tourist images of time past serve as glossy memories we cherish today. To help you over the hump, we’ve rounded up some of the best architectural nostalgia. From 3 1/2 x 5″ renditions of Oscar Niemeyer’s glorious graphic structures to obscure designs in Casablanca and Tijuana, click through to check out vintage shots of the most incredible retro architecture in the world.
Bath-Yam Municipal Building by Zvi Hecker, Eldar Sharon and Alfred Neumann – Tel Aviv, Israel
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Mondadori Headquarters by Oscar Niemeyer – Milan, Italy
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Igreja Nossa Senhora de Fátima by Oscar Niemeyer – Brasilia, Brazil
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
The Geisel Library at UC San Diego by William Pereira – La Jolla, California
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
United Nations Plaza pedestrian underpass by Jean-François Zevaco – Casablanca, Morocco
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Druzhba Boarding House by Igor Vasilevsky – Yalta, Ukraine
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Kenyatta Conference Center by Karl Henrik Nøstvik – Nairobi, Kenya
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Agadir-La Reserve by Duhon et Bassiėre – Agadir, Morocco
Image credit: ffffound!
The Bacardi Buildings by Enrique Gutierrez – Miami, Florida
Image credit: ARTINFO
Berlin Neue Nationalgalerie by Mies van der Rohe – Berlin, Germany
Image credit: Postales Inventadas
Centro Cultural de Tijuana by Pedro Ramirez Vazquez and Manuel Rosen Morrison – Tijuana, Mexico
Image credit: Postales Inventadas
Dhahran International Airport by Minoru Yamasaki – Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Image credit: dariuss
Fiuggi Fonte by Pier Luigi Nervi – Fiuggi, Italy
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
The Cuban Pavilion by Vittorio Garatti, Sergio Baroni and Hugo D´Acosta – Montreal, Canada
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts by Richard Porro – Havana, Cuba
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer – Spain
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Ministry of Motor Roads by George Chakhava and Zurab Jalaghania – Tbilisi, Georgia
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Camino Real Hotel by Raúl Minondo – Guatemala City, Guatemala
Image credit: Making Up Postcards
Piscine tournesol by Bernard Schoeller – Chantonnay, France
Image credit: Lost in the Seventies
Royan Market Hall – Royan, France
Image credit: Architectures des cartes postales
Les Choux de Creteil by Gerard Grandval – Creteil, France
Image credit: grain edit