Das, was da ist

Das, was da ist (in German) is an illustrated nonfiction book about working with what already exists: timber offcuts, building waste, old glass, fabric and scrap metal. While studying illustration, Konrad Staisch renovated a small house and noticed how much good material ends up in the skip. This book is what grew out of that.

It mixes personal stories with practical building and repair instructions that work for absolute beginners: reupholstering a chair, building a shelf from leftover wood, getting to know your hand tools, setting up a swap box in your street. Along the way it asks why responsibility for waste doesn't stop at our own front door but includes companies and politics too.

Konrad is an illustrator, artist and screen printer in Leipzig, and his bold, reduced drawings carry the whole book, from tool charts to step-by-step guides.

Selected as one of the Most Beautiful German Books 2026 (Die schönsten deutschen Bücher, Stiftung Buchkunst).

Printed by Beisner Druck in Buchholz in der Nordheide on recycled paper certified with the Blue Angel ecolabel.