readellion opened an offline bookstore located on Voznesensky Uzviz 23. Inside there is a selection of Ukrainian and English-language books, magazines and zines. DTF Magazine talked to the readellion team and tells about the new space in more detail
About the design of the space
The bookstore team together with the prototype architectural bureau worked on the design. The functional modular space was created so that it ‘can be further adapted to the needs depending on the number of publications and the team’s vision’.
‘For us, the most important thing in space is functionality, flexibility and modularity. We and prototype are a perfect match regarding this because their approach to work is based on the concept of ‘microrationality’. We are constantly changing and growing, shuffling items, planning to create more merch and objects, which means that the space for presenting our ideas and products has to adapt to these changes’.
readellion added that ‘print publications are a striking and self-sufficient product, so the new space is designed to emphasize its uniqueness without drawing too much attention to itself’.
A special feature of the bookstore is a display island located in the middle of the space: it serves as a shelf for publications, which, if necessary, can be raised to the ceiling and thus make space for events.
What’s inside
The readellion offline space features a selection of magazines, books and zines from Ukraine and around the world curated by the team. They are presented in Ukrainian and English, with an emphasis on design and creative industries.
At the same time, the full readellion range is still available on the website for now.
‘We have a large audience outside of Kyiv and don’t want to deprive them of the opportunity to purchase something from our selection. Our personal favorite approach is to see everything online and then come to the offline space for a final and more tactile decision, or just to talk, because we love that’.
About other activities in the space
The team explained that they ‘adore their online community, so they wanted to take that openness offline’.
In the space located on Voznesensky Uzviz they plan to hold presentations of local zines and their own projects, design workshops with friendly studios or individual designers, as well as individual meetings.
‘The main idea is the exchange of opinions and experiences between creators and audiences, that is, a shift from a monologue format to something more free and diverse’.
readellion offline space is open Tuesday through Sunday: Tues-Fri: from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Sat-Fri: from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
