(via) Can Vancouver honestly claim to be a “world class” city without a great bookstore? By great we mean one that stops people in its tracks, ensnaring and enchanting all who enter it with the way in which it is artfully arranged. We don’t think so. It might have a handful of bookstores worthy of mention, but none are gobsmackingly massive or iconic (the stunning main branch of the public library notwithstanding). Chain behemoths like Chapters don’t count, and tangled labyrinths Powell’s in Portland or the Strand in New York are old hat. We believe that Vancouver should have something different and more modern — something like the voluminous, open-concept Livraria Culture in São Paulo, Brazil. Designed by Studio MK27 “to encourage shoppers to stay and read the books they’ve purchased or to simply hang out with friends”, it’s sexy as hell. Accordingly, we imagine it occupying the ridiculously over-sized Victoria’s Secret location on the corner of Robson and Burrard, which is no stranger to books in the first place.

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