Ras is located on a cherry-tree-lined street that bursts with vibrant city activity. Three blocks away from Las Ramblas and around the corner from the Museu d´Art Contemporani, this book shop’s location ensures healthy interaction between literary art and street life, two things that in an ideal world should always go hand-in-hand.

Ras’ shelves brim with one of the city’s most comprehensive collections of books on art, design and architecture, thanks to its administrators, ACTAR Publishing, a Catalonian enterprise specializing in these subjects. Accommodating staff are glad to guide you through the vast collection of books, magazines, gadgets, posters and collectibles all neatly arranged in its hyper-modern, deliciously-bookish interior.

Relish in a full section of the store devoted to street art, from books on graffiti to stickers, stencils and skateboard art, as well as a growing supply of silk-screened posters and other original artworks. Apart from Ras’ corridor of books, the store’s space opens-up into an ample gallery that hosts exhibits and book launches. A busy calendar of events fills the gallery with paintings, projections, installations and any proposal that offers creative style. This bookstore is both eye candy as well as enlightening—certainly fit for an afternoon of thumbing through glossy pages and settling into an evening of high-caliber intellectual and cultural events.