The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars; Kurt Kohlstedt

The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars; Kurt Kohlstedt ISBN-13: 9780358126607 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Released: October 6th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Have you ever wondered what those bright, squiggly graffiti marks on the sidewalk mean? Or stopped to consider why you don't see metal fire escapes on new buildings? Or pondered the story behind those dancing inflatable figures in car dealerships? 99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.

Now, in The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to Hidden World of Everyday Design, host Roman Mars and coauthor Kurt Kohlstedt zoom in on the various elements that make our cities work, exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs. With deeply researched entries and beautiful line drawings throughout, The 99% Invisible City will captivate devoted fans of the show and anyone curious about design, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them.


My Review:
The 99% Invisible City explains how different design features in cities have come about and why they are that way. These are short entries, only two or three pages long per topic. Rather than looking at the best design, we're often told about a poor design that doesn't work. Or we're told how someone was inspired to create something and how it works. The book covered things like what various sidewalk markings mean, how to spot fake façades and what they might cover up, how a city changes over time and how to spot marks of the past that have been left behind, how to create a memorable flag or warning symbol, how advertising can literally hide things, why manhole covers are round and have a design on the top, safety features that are built into signs and such, design considerations behind creating cycling lanes, the naming of streets, how revolving doors came about, how regulations have affected architecture over time, lots of things about skyscrapers, and more. There are some rough line drawings that show the object being discussed. Actual pictures would have been better, but you get an idea of what the thing being talked about look like. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting book.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.