The 99% Invisible City

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Out now: The most entertaining and fascinating book about architecture and design, from the wildly popular podcast 99% Invisible.
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A New York Times Bestseller

‘Full of surprises and quirky information . . . a fascinating journey through the over-familiar.’ – Financial Times, Best Books of 2020

‘[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

‘A delightful book about the under-appreciated wonders of good design’ – Tim Harford, bestselling author of The Undercover Economist and Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy

‘99% Invisible goes deep on the design and architecture we tend to overlook – this is it in glorious guidebook form . . . fascinating.‘ Wired
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This is 99% Invisible.
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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 ponder who gets to name the streets we walk along?

Or what the story is 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.
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You are about to see stories everywhere, you beautiful nerd. Now get out there.

‘If you’ve ever wondered why our world is the way it is, this show has your answers’ The Hustle

‘99% Invisible…is completely wonderful and entertaining and beautifully produced…’ Ira Glass, This American Life

‘The hugely inventive 99% Invisible treats the design of everyday things like a forensic science.’ WIRED