What is the perfect library, one that is so inviting you want to spend as much time as possible there? Perhaps it should be more like a living room? In 2010, Till Exit was commissioned to redesign the GfZK library. He decided to use lounge chairs and lamps from the 1950s and 1960s, in combination with newly designed tables and shelves, although at first glance it is not always clear which items are old and which are new. The interior design builds a bridge between the present and the past, and vice-versa. The title “Weltall Erde Mensch” refers to a book containing various utopian visions of the future; up until 1975, this was a traditional gift presented to young people at their “Jugendweihe”, an East German celebration at which 14-year-olds are given adult status. Now, Exit transfers this utopian potential to the library; it is to be a place where you feel inspired to fantasise about the near and the distant future.
Rebecca Conroy on 16 Dec 13SPD is now the nation's only exclusively literary nonprofit book distributor, serving over 400 small and independent presses, the majority of which have no other source of distribution. 140+ of SPD publishers are in California, 80+ are in New York, the rest are spread throughout the US, with several in Canada, the UK and in Europe. Two are located in Africa, in Eritrea and Senegal. SPD sells independent literature in every state in the country and to many locations in the world.