Venue
The Centro Cultural General San Martín (see Wikipedia article) is the most important cultural center of Argentina. Located in the heart of the city, near the renowned Corrientes Avenue (also known as The street that never sleeps), it is supported by the city government, and hosts diverse cultural and artistic events. The building, finished in 1970 by architect Mario Roberto Álvarez, was also used as seat of the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP) after the restoration of democracy in Argentina and, years later, home of the first legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
The venue was refurbished during 2007, updating and upgrading its conference facilities. The building is 12 stories tall and 30,000 m² large, has different rooms for workshops and courses and is home to the Buenos Aires Audiovisual Nucleus with over 7,000 documentary works. At the eastern end of the building are the Plaza de las Américas and the Patio de Esculturas squares with two art galleries.
The venue will be provided for free by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires to host Wikimania 2009.
Halls
Centro Cultural General San Martín will provide one large hall with 750 seats, three medium size rooms with ~200 seats, two lounge facilities and two offices for the organization team.
| Item | Proposed Space | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Main hall | Room A/B, with 750 seats | Dimensions (m): 42.00 x 21.00 x 7.00 |
| Seminar rooms | Room C with 200 seats | Dimensions (m): 20.00 x 11.00 x 3.04 |
| Room E with 190 seats | Dimensions (m): Hall: 3.87 x 8.20; Auditorium: 8.66 x 4.70; Room: 11.70 x 10.90 | |
| Room F with 190 seats | Dimensions (m): Hall: 3.87 x 8.20; Auditorium: 8.66 x 4.70; Room: 11.70 x 10.90 | |
| Enrique Muino Room with 254 seats | ||
| Ernesto Bianco Room with 70 seats | ||
| Lounge facilities | Mezzanine with 120 seats, total capacity of 340 | Dimensions (m):10.70 x 13.73 x 3.10, 170 mt2 of free space |
| Lounge facilities | Madres de Plaza de Mayo Room with 120 seats, total capacity of 340 | Dimensions (m):10.00 x 17.00 x 3.10, 170 mt2 of free space |
| Organization Team Offices | Room D with 2 offices | Dimensions (m):3.42 x 5.60 x 3.10 each office |
Technical facilities
Internet access computers, video conferencing, web casting and audio and video recording will be organized by CafeLUG, the Capital Federal (Buenos Aires) Linux Users Group, organizers of CaFeConf, a national free software event held annually in Buenos Aires with a total attendance of nearly 1,500 people.
Regarding WiFi coverage, we are confident a big national or international ISP, with expertise to provide Internet/WiFi access, will sponsor the event. In any case, the Buenos Aires Libre free network group of experts will review the design of the WiFi coverage in order to guarantee the quality of service needed.
Catering and Social areas
- Catering
- Breakfast: will be included with accommodation. Also, Corrientes Avenue is plenty of cafeterías (coffeehouses) where breakfast costs near ARS 5 (USD 1.5) for a café con leche y dos medialunas —a typical porteño breakfast.
- Lunch: will be served in one of the rooms in Centro Cultural General San Martín, served in buffet style.
- Drinks and on-site catering: The conference would provide catering during the conference breaks.
- Social areas
- One of the rooms will be accommodated as a lounge, with open space, couchs and drinks and catering, open every day until midnight. Centro Cultural San Martín also has many rooms with art galleries.
Photo Gallery
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Centro Cultural General San Martín -
Centro Cultural General San Martín Entrance -
Centro Cultural General San Martín Lobby -
Room C, which will be used for Wikimania
Location
- 1551 Sarmiento St., Buenos Aires (view in Google).