You are asked to design a milonga location by a millionaire. How would it look like?
Here is my design, with some explanation:
Here is my design, with some explanation:
Ideal milonga location
- Thread starter gyb
- Start date
opendoor
Forum Master
God preserve us! That will be the end to tango:
..a) It is much too clear !
..b) It is dance-centered !
..c) The position of the DJ is inappropriate !
- I prefer locations with a mystery, not a sterile secular temple.
- My self-concept as a DJ is to be a servant, but not be the president of the ronda.
..a) It is much too clear !
..b) It is dance-centered !
..c) The position of the DJ is inappropriate !
- I prefer locations with a mystery, not a sterile secular temple.
- My self-concept as a DJ is to be a servant, but not be the president of the ronda.
Last edited:
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Don't know the scale but it looks spacious. Maybe I'd make it square-isa. Do you have a lounge area with a bar? That would be very nice. Also small changing room for women, mens and women's bathrooms. I can't quite make out all the details but it looks like you've included separate lounging areas. DJ has a big space to work in, nice. All you need is a professional sound system and you're good to go. But the room itself will need to have some character if it's going to work well. So, a bar/lounge area will help, maybe a nice beaux-arts feel to the place, good natural light would be a plus. Essential, in fact, so it could be used during the daytime. The nicest places we have locally are not dance schools but event spaces behind and above restaurants. Not as big as your design but they work well and have a good feel to them.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
SCNR ;-)
Meaning?
I don't know what are you projecting here. The location was indeed designed to be compatible with the codigos, and having the option I think is a plus, but whether / to what extent this compatibility is pursued is up to the milonga organizer. If by "too clean" you mean "too functional", then I admit this was a goal; an example is centering and slightly elevating the DJ desk, which was done not to make the DJ a "president of the milonga" (whatever that would mean), but to allow her and/or the sound engineer a better view of the dancers (and the band, if there is one); I'm convinced this is quite an advantage for places that host 100+ (in this case, up to 250) people. Sterility / presence of aura of mystery I think is influenced to a great extent by lighting, decoration, and furnishing, all of which are adjustable; my focus was on the location design, not on the furnishing, which would have taken a lot more time to get right in the limited software that was available to me.
(ArbeeNYC missed the bar area, changing rooms, bathrooms, good natural light, connection to a restaurant - all of these are present on the drawing, by the way. Clicking on it should make it pop out so that you can see the details better.)
brunoalfirevic
New Member
I think you greatly overestimate how far a few million euro can go in today's real estate market 
jantango
Well-Known Member
I think the design was well done. I like the use of three seating options -- two at a table, four at a table, and sofas. The common use space is exceptional, especially dressing areas. This is a luxury space that Buenos Aires can only dream about, but could never afford. Tango venues are getting put to other use like a sports center (Nuevo Salon La Argentina).
The rectangular floor has its drawbacks. Seeing someone at the opposite corner of the room is a challenge (like Club Gricel, Centro Region Leonesa, or Obelisco Tango in BA). Also, it can be a nightmare with a very tight center lane inside the two outer lanes.
A square floor like Salon Canning, Lo de Celia Tango with 3 or 4 rows of tables provides easier access to every corner of the salon. There is a center for those who want to stay there while three lanes circle the entire floor.
The rectangular floor has its drawbacks. Seeing someone at the opposite corner of the room is a challenge (like Club Gricel, Centro Region Leonesa, or Obelisco Tango in BA). Also, it can be a nightmare with a very tight center lane inside the two outer lanes.
A square floor like Salon Canning, Lo de Celia Tango with 3 or 4 rows of tables provides easier access to every corner of the salon. There is a center for those who want to stay there while three lanes circle the entire floor.
Thanks! My experience is that a square floor creates more navigational chaos (especially in the middle, which then can propagate its effect to the side lanes as well) than an appropriately sized rectangular floor. Of course if your milonga is attended by dancers an overwhelming majority of whom can navigate well (which was the case ie for Lo de Celia) this is not an issue, but this is not a typical case either.
Numawan
Well-Known Member
More seriously:
- I don’t like the skinny tables at floor level, with all the seats oriented towards the dance floor. Too dancing-oriented, instead of socialising-oriented. Seems to me that this set-up is typically European/North American, and IMHO suboptimal.
- I would replace them with the bigger tables currently on the raised floor, with seats in U-shape around them. If necessary, two rows of tables. Seems to me that this is more the typical Argentinian set-up, which I prefer.
- On the raised floor, no seats and tables for watching the dance floor. Only comfortable sofas in U-shape. In the corners, perhaps a few proper dining tables.
- DJ space looks enormous to me. I would make it much smaller and put it in the middle of the raised floor to the right, between sofas in U-shape.
- The bar would take the place of the DJ space, across the whole length of the wall. Perhaps raised. One row of dining/drinking tables to the right and to the left of the bar, with empty space in the middle for easy access to the bar.
- I don’t like the skinny tables at floor level, with all the seats oriented towards the dance floor. Too dancing-oriented, instead of socialising-oriented. Seems to me that this set-up is typically European/North American, and IMHO suboptimal.
- I would replace them with the bigger tables currently on the raised floor, with seats in U-shape around them. If necessary, two rows of tables. Seems to me that this is more the typical Argentinian set-up, which I prefer.
- On the raised floor, no seats and tables for watching the dance floor. Only comfortable sofas in U-shape. In the corners, perhaps a few proper dining tables.
- DJ space looks enormous to me. I would make it much smaller and put it in the middle of the raised floor to the right, between sofas in U-shape.
- The bar would take the place of the DJ space, across the whole length of the wall. Perhaps raised. One row of dining/drinking tables to the right and to the left of the bar, with empty space in the middle for easy access to the bar.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Jan, isn't hard for people in the back row of tables to move around and access the floor though? Or even to be seen well enough for a cabeceo? Agree that the space in the drawing is quite nice, would love to see more like it.