Young Georgian designer Lado Lomitashvili has completed a bookstore-cum-cafe in Tbilisi, which he hopes will "raise the quality of taste" in the city.
They Said Books sells novels, niche magazines and lifestyle objects, and also has an in-house coffee shop. Lomitashvili's design is centred around the idea that the shop could support the cultural development of Georgia's capital.

"They Said Books is trying to neutralise the post-Soviet trauma of the country, in particular the city of Tbilisi, by trying to act like a cultural activist," explained Lomitashvili.
"Booksellers all around the world act like cultural apostles and taste-makers, helping the cities become the places that encourage the cultural development and raise the quality of taste."
The 150-square-metre store is located west of central Tbilisi inside a 1930s building, overlooking an adjacent street through tall windows that extend up over two floors.
Materials in various shades of brown have been applied throughout the store to reflect the ageing process ? and eventual darkening ? of coffee beans.
On the ground level, yellowed terrazzo tiles clad the floors. Rusted metal lines all of the doorways, contrasting against the store's silver metal walls.

Cork has been used to create display tables supported by chunky, cylindrical legs. These are dotted intermittently across the shop floor as part of an open-plan layout, encouraging local creatives to gather, network, and discuss per...