Wonders of the Millennial World 1: El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Image by: lucas_y2k.  Image Souce: Flickr.

One thing that sometimes makes our Millennial world beautiful is the repurposing of things from one era to serve the needs of the present time. A classic example of this is El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a remarkable theatre in Buenos Aires that has been converted into a bookstore, in fact, the 'bookstore to end all bookstores.' Isabelle Lagarde at Argentina's Travel Guide describes the building's history:

In 1919 a young man named Max Glücksman decided to construct a theater house that would be both grand and splendid. Newly immigrated to Buenos Aires [from Czernowitz in the Austro-Hungarian Empire], Glucksman was a visionary who saw his dream realized and opened his new theater, appropriately named The Grand Splendid. For years the theater presented Argentines with performances of all kinds and local greats such as Gardel and Corsini graced the stage. In 1924 Glucksman began broadcasting Radio Splendid from the fourth floor of the building, and his recording company Odeon recorded some of the early Tango greats. In the late twenties the theater was converted into a movie house and in 1929 showed the first movies ever presented with sound.

In its final metamorphosis the Ateneo was converted into the bookstore that it is today, but despite the abundance of books, the building still feels very much like the glorious theater it once was.

The theatre once had a seating capacity of 1,050.  It is located at 1860 Avenue Santa Fe.  There's a café where the stage once was; and reading areas are in the box seats.  In 2008, The Guardian named El Ateneo Grand Splendid as number two in a list of the world's ten best bookshops, many of which are breathtaking and impressive - or in some cases, already out of business (go here).

Image Source: 5magazine.

Image Source: Satori Stephen.

Image Source: David/Wiki.

Image Source: Herbert Brant/Wiki.

Image Source: Herbert Brant/Wiki.

Image Source: 5magazine.

Click on image to see larger version. Image Source: 5magazine.

Image Source: 5magazine.

Click on image to see larger version. Image Source: 5magazine.

Image Source: 5magazine.

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