{"id":215522,"date":"2026-06-18T06:13:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/?p=215522"},"modified":"2026-06-18T06:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:13:29","slug":"softcover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/softcover\/","title":{"rendered":"Softcover"},"content":{"rendered":"

How did this place come about and what made it different from the start?<\/strong>
Softcover came to be very organically over the last couple of years. Through two other projects I co-founded \u2014 a photo magazine called\u00a0Ausl\u00f6ser<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\u00a0(\u201cTrigger\u201d) and a photo festival in Vienna called\u00a0OFF GRID<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 we already created a small community for books and magazines. The idea of creating a shop for these special independently published titles grew more and more. I\u2019m actually a graphic designer and photographer and worked freelance for clients for many years. So in December 2023 I opened Softcover, a speciality shop for photo books, art books, independent magazines, and small print. Such a space was really missing in Vienna for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What part of the day, space, or creative process do those who work here enjoy the most?<\/strong>
Softcover as a physical space is very important. You have to touch, smell, and feel the books and magazines. It\u2019s a very beautiful, very bright, and creative space. It\u2019s very inspiring to be surrounded by amazing and beautiful print publications from around the world every day. And the work never stops. New books and magazines are published all the time; the big challenge is to curate them really carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If someone is coming in for the first time, what should they not miss?<\/strong>
We have many unique books and magazines in stock. Some of them are handmade, some are limited artist prints, some are bigger magazines, and also collector\u2019s editions. If someone is coming in for the first time, they should definitely not miss some of the very special books and magazines we have. They could be art objects. For example,\u00a0Until Death Do Us Part<\/em>\u00a0by Thomas Sauvin<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s a photo book about Chinese weddings, where people smoke and play smoking games. The bride lights cigarettes for all the wedding guests, and the more cigarettes, the more luck it should bring to the wedding couple. The book is packaged inside a real Chinese cigarette pack. It\u2019s very special and one of our bestsellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What has been an interesting challenge that has made you rethink something about the project?<\/strong>
At Softcover we also host many special events, such as artist talks, book presentations, magazine releases, and workshops. In the beginning I really underestimated the work that goes into the planning of such events. It takes so much time and careful planning. So it really was a big challenge to figure out how to set up the space to be a beautiful bookshop during the day and to turn it into an event space during the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What influence, idea, or reference continues to shape the way you work today?<\/strong>
I think the idea of having a community is so important. Many people who produce these publications also want to buy these publications. Local communities really matter, and it\u2019s important to support your local artists and local spaces. The more niche, the better. We don\u2019t need giant companies and mass-produced mainstream content; we need more uniqueness and weirdness in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What place, project, or person has inspired you recently and why?<\/strong>
Recently I\u2019ve been really inspired by the Hungarian photographer Andi Galdi Vinko<\/strong><\/a>. She made an amazing photo book about motherhood called\u00a0Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I\u2019m Back<\/em>. It\u2019s so raw, direct, and human. Also very inspiring is the book about Henry Rox, titled\u00a0Henry Rox Revue. Fotografie 1935\u20131955<\/em>; it\u2019s all about his fruit and vegetable figures. It\u2019s funny and creepy at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If your space could invite someone to collaborate for a day, who would it be and what would you do together?<\/strong>
I would love to invite Sofia Coppola and Yorgos Lanthimos. I really hope it works out someday for an event together, with book signings and creative workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Is there an object, corner, or detail of the place that has a story that few people know?<\/strong>
Before opening Softcover, there was a very legendary music and night club for 30 years in the same space, called\u00a0Tagasyl<\/em> (\u201cDay Asylum\u201d) and in the basement\u00a0Nachtasyl<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cNight Asylum\u201d). It was really legendary and it\u2019s very sad that they had to close. And of course, after 30 years the space was really run down. We did a big renovation. There were holes in the floor, there was no proper electricity, no proper heating or proper water system. The ceiling of the space was brown and yellow from all the nicotine. The ceiling alone we had to repaint six times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If this project were a city, a book, or a record, which would it be and why?<\/strong>
It would maybe be the film\u00a0Perfect Days<\/em>\u00a0by Wim Wenders. It\u2019s quiet, slow-moving, and carefully crafted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answers by Sebastian Gansrigler<\/a>, Founder and Owner of Softcover.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s very inspiring to be surrounded by amazing and beautiful print publications from around the world every day. And the work never stops. New books and magazines are published all the time, the big challenge is to curate them really carefully.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8533,"featured_media":215523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"places","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17458],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-places"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"yoast_head":"\nSoftcover - ERRR MAGAZINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/softcover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Softcover - ERRR MAGAZINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s very inspiring to be surrounded by amazing and beautiful print publications from around the world every day. And the work never stops. New books and magazines are published all the time, the big challenge is to curate them really carefully.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/softcover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ERRR MAGAZINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T12:13:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T12:13:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_\u00a9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Softcover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Softcover\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Softcover\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/55e327126822b736901c3056fc873b01\"},\"headline\":\"Softcover\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T12:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-18T12:13:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":808,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Places\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/\",\"name\":\"Softcover - ERRR MAGAZINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T12:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-18T12:13:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/55e327126822b736901c3056fc873b01\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/softcover\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Portada\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Softcover\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"ERRR MAGAZINE\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/55e327126822b736901c3056fc873b01\",\"name\":\"Softcover\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e197f6dc9aa8f13a860281cc547378e12a81901cade168cce51bd06ebf3322ce?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e197f6dc9aa8f13a860281cc547378e12a81901cade168cce51bd06ebf3322ce?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e197f6dc9aa8f13a860281cc547378e12a81901cade168cce51bd06ebf3322ce?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Softcover\"},\"description\":\"Speciality shop for photo books, art books, indie magazines & zines Vienna, Austria\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/softcover.shop\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/errr-magazine.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/softcover\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Softcover - ERRR MAGAZINE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/softcover\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Softcover - ERRR MAGAZINE","og_description":"It\u2019s very inspiring to be surrounded by amazing and beautiful print publications from around the world every day. And the work never stops. New books and magazines are published all the time, the big challenge is to curate them really carefully.","og_url":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/softcover\/","og_site_name":"ERRR MAGAZINE","article_published_time":"2026-06-18T12:13:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-18T12:13:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_\u00a9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Softcover","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Softcover","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/"},"author":{"name":"Softcover","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/55e327126822b736901c3056fc873b01"},"headline":"Softcover","datePublished":"2026-06-18T12:13:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-18T12:13:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/"},"wordCount":808,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","articleSection":["Places"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/","url":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/","name":"Softcover - ERRR MAGAZINE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-06-18T12:13:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-18T12:13:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/55e327126822b736901c3056fc873b01"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/softcover\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Portada","item":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Softcover"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/","name":"ERRR MAGAZINE","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/55e327126822b736901c3056fc873b01","name":"Softcover","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e197f6dc9aa8f13a860281cc547378e12a81901cade168cce51bd06ebf3322ce?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e197f6dc9aa8f13a860281cc547378e12a81901cade168cce51bd06ebf3322ce?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e197f6dc9aa8f13a860281cc547378e12a81901cade168cce51bd06ebf3322ce?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Softcover"},"description":"Speciality shop for photo books, art books, indie magazines & zines Vienna, Austria","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/softcover.shop"],"url":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/author\/softcover\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/errr-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Softcover_07_%C2%A9_Sebastian_Gansrigler-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"mfb_rest_fields":["title","yoast_head","yoast_head_json","jetpack_featured_media_url","jetpack_sharing_enabled"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215532,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215522\/revisions\/215532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/errr-magazine.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}