El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1919)

Artist/Designer: Torres Armengol, Peró Armengol

Project Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Figure 1 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Phillip Capper )

Figure 2 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: David )

Figure 3 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: HalloweenHJB )

Figure 4 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Galio )

Figure 5 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Galio )

Figure 6: View of the stage/coffee shop ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Liam Quinn )

Figure 7: Ceiling detail ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Liam Quinn )

Figure 8 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Liam Quinn )

Figure 9 ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Liam Quinn )

Figure 10: Ceiling view ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: JnVSydney )

Figure 11: Exterior ( Source | Accessed : April 19, 2023 | Photographer: Stanley Wood )

Style/Period(s):
Eclectic

Primary Material(s):
Stone

Function(s):
Retail Store, Coffee Shop, Theater

Related Website(s):

Buenos Aires tourist page | Accessed : April 19, 2023

Atlas Obscura page | Accessed : April 19, 2023

National Geographic "This is the Worlds Most Beautiful Bookstore" | Accessed : April 19, 2023

Significant Date(s):
1910-1919, 1919, 1920-1929, 1929, 1990-1999, 1991, 2000-2009, 2000

Additional Information:
Publications/Texts in Print:

Additional Information:
The theatre had a seating capacity of 1,050.
Max Glücksmann, for whom the building was designed for, started his own radio station in 1924 (Radio Splendid) that was broadcasted from the building and made some early recordings of great tango singers.
In 1929 the first sound films were shown in Argentina at the newly converted cinema.
The cinema became a bookstore in 2000.
The Guardian named El Ateneo Grand Splendid second in its 2008 list of the world's ten best bookshops.
In 2019 National Geographic named it the "world's most beautiful bookstore".

Project Description:
Designed by architects Peró and Torres Armengol for impresario Max Glücksmann.
The stage is now a coffee shop.

Building Address:
1860 Sante Fe Avenue
Recoleta/Barrio Norte
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Supporting Designers/Staff:
Nazareno Orlandi - Italian artist who painted the ceiling frescoes painted
Troiano Troiani - Sculptor of the caryatids

Significant Dates:
May 1919 - Theatre opens
1929 - Converted to a cinema
1991 - Cinema closed
1991-2000 - Restoration
February 2000 - Converted to a bookstore

Associated Projects:
Palacio de la Legislatura de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tags:
Bookstore, Cinema, Theatre, Historic, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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