As the eternal saying goes, neighbours should be there for one another. That’s why Because have taken a sneak peek at the Reading Rooms, an installation commissioned by our compadre TANK magazine in celebration of their 25th anniversary. Over the next six weeks, the public will be invited in to experience a cosy installation designed by Matteo Mastrandrea and Isabel Ogden) A series of reading environments that mimic those cosy hideaways where you might read in your day-to-day, the space houses the TANK archive, alongside books, magazines and other ephemera that have inspired the publication across their lifetime since 1998.

Guests are invited to sit and read in any of the environments (and grab a free cup of coffee by Illy, no less!)There’s a veritable bounty of reading spaces to dig into: a double bed evokes an end-of-day peruse through a book, a deck chair brings the beach to bustling central London and a tent provides a cosy reading hideaway. At the end of these cavernous rooms lies a real treat: a cafe space with caffeine on tap.

Downstairs, a cinema room is projecting films old and new from TANK’s Now Showing streaming service, starting with Agnès Varda’s classic Cleo from 5 to 7. This will be alongside other videos from TANK’s extensive digital archive, which has been going long before YouTube changed streaming forever.

It’s the first in a series of silver jubilee celebrations for TANK: the magazine are also commemorating their 25th anniversary issue, created in collaboration with artist Theaster Gates, which will be available to buy.

The TANK Reading Rooms are open Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm until October 20th at 91-93 Great Portland Street, W1W 7NX

By Matteo Pini