Kin’s Guest Bookshop 2025: Pro qm

This year’s guest bookshop at Kin is Pro qm from Berlin, one of Europe’s leading bookshops specializing in art, architecture, and theory. Founded in 1999, Pro qm has established itself internationally as a specialized bookstore and venue for interdisciplinary debates about the city, architecture, artistic practice, and theory. The name Pro qm, which translates as “per square meter,” points to space as a relation to issues presented throughout the physical space of the store. The bookshop evolved from theoretical debates and discussions on urban politics and alternative spaces for cultural production into a physical location to engage in these issues with a wider public. The thematic focus is on the city and its relation to questions of design, politics, pop culture, economy, art, sound, and the wide field of theory. The inventory selection is very international, with at least 50% of the publications presented being non-German.

The store regularly hosts book presentations of varying formats, mostly focusing on newly released publications. Pro qm’s past activities have delved into what it means for a bookshop to participate in the broader public dialogue, a gesture rarely explored in the book trade. This has included several short to long-term satellite shops in collaboration with other organizations, frequently in the context of museums, exhibitions, and conferences. In 2000–2001 Pro qm was awarded the arsviva prize of visual arts by the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft and in conjunction with thar the bookshop took part in a series of exhibitions. In 2004, Pro qm conceived a public forum for urban theory at the Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf. This was implemented as part of a remodeling project to create a space for active exchange and presentation. In 2007, Pro qm, alongside its sister bookshop b_books from Berlin, was selected as the official bookstore for Documenta 12 in Kassel. In 2015, 2018, and 2023 Pro qm was awarded the esteemed award of “Excellent Bookstore” within the annual Deutscher Buchhandlungspreis, organized be the German Ministry of Culture.

Book Selection

In times of multiple global and planetary challenges Pro qm tries to offer books that help to navigate through the thorny swamp of our time. The selected books share a trans-disciplinary approach, be it in the fields of arts, media, ecology, politics or spatial practices. They offer critical insight but do not stop there, also presenting various tools (such as forensic research, commoning practices, mapping, and speculative or poetic approaches) for doing things better.

Mondo Books from Tromsø, Norway was Kin's guest bookshop in 2024.