The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
Product ID: 191507620
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to Senegal.
A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, USA TODAY, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER “[A] diverse and enlightening book . . . The 99% Invisible City is altogether fresh and imaginative when it comes to thinking about urban spaces.” — The New York Times Book Review “Here is a field guide, a boon, a bible , for the urban curious. Your city’s secret anatomy laid bare—a hundred things you look at but don’t see, see but don’t know. Each entry is a compact, surprising story, a thought piece, an invitation to marvel. Together, they are almost transformative. To know why things are as they are adds a satisfying richness to daily existence. This book is terrific, just terrific.” —Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff , Grunt, and Gulp “ The 99% Invisible City brings into view the fascinating but often unnoticed worlds we walk and drive through every day, and to read it is to feel newly alive and aware of your place in the world. This book made me laugh, and it made me cry, and it reminded me to always read the plaque.” —John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All The Way Down A beautifully designed guidebook to the unnoticed yet essential elements of our cities, from the creators of the wildly popular 99% Invisible podcast 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. Review: 4.6 stars. 1) desperately needs photographic images, 2) NOT a "field guide," 3) echoes the podcast - It is quite wonderful and everyone should buy it. That said, it has two serious flaws. On consideration I didn't think they were worth deducting a full star. FIrst, it's illustrated only by what some reviewers call "beautiful line drawings" by Patrick Vale. The drawings are functional in several ways. They are much more legible on my classic black-and-white e-Ink technology KIndle. And because they are drawings, they can illustrate things very clearly in a small space. In some cases, the drawings seem "clever" and "clear." In other cases, I regret to say, they just seem "crude." Consider the beautifully painted manhole covers of Osaka Japan. They are works of art. They are in color, they are delicate, and they are immensely varied. What kind of nut thinks you can convey this adequately in a single black-and-white sketch of one of them? No words, however eloquent, can make up for it. I don't know what constraints led to this decision, but it sucks. I need to read this book with a tablet next to me, and make web searches as I read each page in order to see adequate images of the things the book is describing. In this case, a decent minimum would six to twelve full-color images. Second, the title promises a "field guide." It isn't. There is no way you can look at something weird in the urban landscape, go to the book and identify it. It doesn't even attempt to provide one. At least one website classifies it as a "reference work." It isn't. It's a great read, like a book by Bill Bryson or John McPhee, but it is no field guide. Third, I haven't tried to collate the chapter titles against the podcast episode titles, but rather a lot of the essays are based on topics that have been the subject of "99% Invisible" podcast episodes. If you are a regular follower of the podcast, as I am, a lot of this material will seem familiar. Review: Awesome Read - I got this book due to the fact that it seemed everyone was talking about it at a bookstore that I was at and when I saw this at an amazing deal from desertcart I had to buy it. What an incredible book. I learned so much about walking through a city and not noticing things that the book writes about. The book is straight to the point and very easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to learn or just find it fascinating what to look for while walking through a city. This book is awesome!
D**H
4.6 stars. 1) desperately needs photographic images, 2) NOT a "field guide," 3) echoes the podcast
It is quite wonderful and everyone should buy it. That said, it has two serious flaws. On consideration I didn't think they were worth deducting a full star. FIrst, it's illustrated only by what some reviewers call "beautiful line drawings" by Patrick Vale. The drawings are functional in several ways. They are much more legible on my classic black-and-white e-Ink technology KIndle. And because they are drawings, they can illustrate things very clearly in a small space. In some cases, the drawings seem "clever" and "clear." In other cases, I regret to say, they just seem "crude." Consider the beautifully painted manhole covers of Osaka Japan. They are works of art. They are in color, they are delicate, and they are immensely varied. What kind of nut thinks you can convey this adequately in a single black-and-white sketch of one of them? No words, however eloquent, can make up for it. I don't know what constraints led to this decision, but it sucks. I need to read this book with a tablet next to me, and make web searches as I read each page in order to see adequate images of the things the book is describing. In this case, a decent minimum would six to twelve full-color images. Second, the title promises a "field guide." It isn't. There is no way you can look at something weird in the urban landscape, go to the book and identify it. It doesn't even attempt to provide one. At least one website classifies it as a "reference work." It isn't. It's a great read, like a book by Bill Bryson or John McPhee, but it is no field guide. Third, I haven't tried to collate the chapter titles against the podcast episode titles, but rather a lot of the essays are based on topics that have been the subject of "99% Invisible" podcast episodes. If you are a regular follower of the podcast, as I am, a lot of this material will seem familiar.
L**L
Awesome Read
I got this book due to the fact that it seemed everyone was talking about it at a bookstore that I was at and when I saw this at an amazing deal from Amazon I had to buy it. What an incredible book. I learned so much about walking through a city and not noticing things that the book writes about. The book is straight to the point and very easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to learn or just find it fascinating what to look for while walking through a city. This book is awesome!
B**T
A 10-Yearbook of Design Exploration
I discovered 99% Invisible's podcast in 2012 and they have been telling interesting design stories in new exciting ways. (I immediately digested their whole backcatalog) The 99% Invisible City is a wonderful revisiting and update of many topics, not a cut-and-paste of transcripts, and it shows. Handsomely crafted with distinctive illustrations and typography, it is meticulously organized into six distinct sections with a very in-depth Table of Contents and Index. There are many things that this book will help you see clearly no matter which city you live in. A cornucopia for the curious! BUY THIS BOOK for your whole family and go exploring!
T**W
Hidden Design
Excellent read with interesting vignettes for those that enjoy trivia. From Roman Mars, the creator of the podcast 99% Invisible.
L**H
Great read
Only knocked one star off because the book came damaged at the spine and it was a gift so I felt bad.
E**K
Everybody likes this book, but let me tell you why *I* like this book
I haven't finished this book yet. I've barely even started it. But for those who would say I have no ground to write about a book I haven't read, I say :bbbbbbbbb I spent year doing it in post-secondary/graduate school. You could almost say this is a *professional* book review. 1)Bite-size, 1-2 page articles mean the readings in this book are accessible to more people than they would otherwise. I can't speak for those with ADHD or those who grew up on the internet, but for those with affective disorders that disturb their concentration this book IS accessable, albeit one segment of a section at a time. I am currently up to "Lines of Sight" 2)The illustrations are fun. They might be frustrating at times when you can't find the relevant pictures in them, but I don't think this is a book I'm going to read only once. I'll find everything at some point. 3)Basic layout of the book is *smart*. I just realized it has not only a very well organized TOC, and fairly comprehensive index, but also an interesting-looking bibliography. 4)While it's not leather-bound or anything, it has a full-color print wrap on the hard cover which is just another element of the 99% Invisible Class & Style. 5) People (Kurt and Roman?) have been saying it's NOT a 99% Invisible episode in book form, but I think maybe it could be argued that it is a superlong book-format episode on the theme of CITIES. 6) If nothing else, it translates the *spirit* of 99% Invisible (bringing all design and architecture that shape our world into our POV) (in a flawless execution) perfectly. *Was considering complaining about the partial bookcover here but since I always remove them to shove in the back or at best use as bookmarks, and this one is the ideal size to use as a bookmark I literally have NOTHING to complain about.
F**N
Very interesting for the observer
This is a great book! I have enjoyed the podcast associated with this book, but the book contains sketches that bring the concepts to life. It is written in layman's terms, so it is easily digestible for those who aren't engineers or architects. If you are the kind of person who likes to investigate the details of why things in our public spaces are the way they are, this is the book for you!
C**.
My best buy in 2020 :)
An absolutely fantastic read from my favorite show. Having listened to 99PI for 6 years, helping me find peace in some of the hardest years of my depression, the feeling of holding Roman Mars & Kurt Kohlstedt’s written words is... wonderously overwhelming. The book itself is gorgeous. It feels sturdy and smooth and the half book jacket design with the front cover is *chefs kiss*. Its writing has not lost the feel of the audio show— just as fun and playful, it doesnt adhere to the often closed & boring nature of not spoken writing. It only makes me want to get the audiobook as well! Ive been carrying it around with me and enjoy reading a snippet, a small section when i have some free time at work or waiting for a friend on the bayou. I have so many friends who want to borrow it, but i love it so much i dont want it to not have it!
Y**A
I used to only see the 1%
A great book that allowed me to rediscover the world around me in a new lens, taking in the things I usually just gloss over. I also gifted this book to someone who's an engineer by trade, and they loved it as well. All to say: a great read, for the uninitiated to urban planning and pros alike!
@**S
This book will hopefully enable you to see your walks around cities differently
“The 99% Invisible City” book is a spin off from the 99%invisible podcast, there is also a website and merchandise site. As time moves on, things change in a city, from the original roots of the city through to different fashions, which could be changes in road signs and markings, the way buildings are built, the squared design on Police uniforms. All of these things have a history, that impacts onto today. The book is written in an easy to read, light hearted way and it walks you through inconspicuous, conspicuous, infrastructure, architecture, geography and urbanism. The signs to look for and the history behind those features. At 351 pages it’s a pretty long book, but great fun and will hopefully enable you to see your walks around cities differently.
A**N
Bien
Bien
M**C
Fantastic
Love the podcast…& love the book
J**C
A beautiful book, inside and out.
Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt have produced a fascinating book (content) which is a pleasure even to just look at and hold (form). I highly recommend this book. Not just for design nerds!
Trustpilot
1 month ago
1 day ago