Today we start a new collaboration with the blog “She Thought Outside The Box”, we are very proud of
working with them!
She Thought Outside The Box is a project run by two Silvias, Cabra and Conde. We are this “she”, the ones who think outside the box and the ones who want to share these ideas with the world. We write about nice cafés, unusual shops, special people specially from Berlin and Barcelona, but also punctually from London, Lisbon or Madrid.
Sílvia Cabra (Barcelona, 1989) was born to be a cool hunter. Graduated in Advertising and Public Relations, she decided to start an adventure in the inspiring city of Berlin. She likes traveling, exploring and cooking! She is currently living in Barcelona.
Silvia Conde (Barcelona, 1988) has a creative mind. After graduating in Advertising and Public Relations, she dreamed up She Thought Outside The Box to combine two of her different passions, photography and trends. She’s currently living in Berlin.
Buchhandlung Walther König
Buchhandlung Walther König is a library located next to Hackescher Markt. It looks quite serious from the outside, where you can read “Architektur, Design, Kunst, Fotografie” (Architecture, Design, Art, Photography), the kind of books they sell. But I’d say it’s more than that.
Opened in 2007, this library has bookshelves filled up from the floor to the roof. But you don’t feel overwhelmed at all, because you can see the cover of many of them. The shop is quite big, there must be thousands of books in it! Books about philosophy, sociology, feminism, music, cinema, photography, design, graphic design, advertising, fashion, history, art history, art theory, architecture,… And they have a fantastic collection of magazines, which are not only German but also American, English or Japanese, among others. Here you can buy Dazed and Confused, Vogue International, Dash Magazine, Corduroy, L’Officiel, Industrie, Misc, Habitus, Damn, Aesthetica, Spike, Art Review, Elephant, Flash Art, Spex,…
One of the books that I drew my attention to was “100 Artists’ Manifestos: From Futurists to the Stuckists”. They had many books of Taschen that I would have bought with my eyes closed too. There were books from other German publishing houses such as Reclam, Merve, Suhrkamp; which had a cool minimalist design of their covers.
The atmosphere in the bookshop is quite and calm. There were people that were just looking around, a mother with her child reading, a couple of old people asking for an specific book,… And the employees were absolutely nice.
If you have the chance, you shouldn’t miss this shop at all. I’m sure you would find some book you would like to buy.
Do You Read Me
You can find Do You Read Me in two locals in Berlin: one in Mitte and another one in Tiergarten. This last one has a special space dedicated to read, the Reading Room. We got to know this bookshop because Freunde von Freunden launch there their book.
As it’s said on their website, Do You Read Me has “Magazine und Lektüre der Gegenwart”(Actual Magazines and Readings). So here you can find a first-rate collection of magazines from many different places and about many different themes. Naturally all of them have something in common: they are cool, so cool. Encens, Inventory, The Gentlewoman, Mark, It’s Nice That, Milk, Muse, Candy, Wonderland, Indie, Et Alors?, Frankie, V, Dansk, Fantastic Man, Apartamento,… these are some of the names you’ll find there.
But it’s not only about magazines, they have an excellent selection of books concerning photography, food, branding, architecture, interior design, decoration, urban spaces, etc. The book I would have bought is “Typography in Magazines”, by Laura Meseguer. It just seemed to be so fascinating!
Pro QM
Pro QM is another captivating bookshop in Berlin. Located next to Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, it’s a “Thematische Buchhandlung zu Stadt, Politik, Pop, Ökonomiekritik, Architektur, Design, Kunst und Theorie” (A Thematic Bookshop About City, Politics, Pop, Ecomomy Critics, Architecture, Design, Art and Theory).
It seems to be a library where you go because you’re looking for a specific book, author or theme; because it’s quite technical. There aren’t big spaces and most of the bookshelves start on your feet and end in the roof too, but in this case it’s a little bit overwhelming. You feel completely surrounded by books. Needless to say, a part from the books they have a magnificent selection of magazines too: Fantastic Man, Apartamento, Der Wedding, Monu, Dérive, Condition, Domus,…
Here I would have bought a book called “The First To Know”, by Lida Hujić.
Everytime we’ve been in Pro QM, the music was on. It was kind of relaxing. There were some people reading magazines, others just looking around and many asking for something in particular. The guy from the shop was totally friendly to them and us.
The interior design of the both shops is kind of minimalist and modern. You can feel they’ve taken care of the lighting and the colours of the walls. It’s an outstanding shop. Nevertheless, they could be a little bit more friendly with their customers. Or at least that’s the impression we’ve got every time we’ve been there.
