The 99% Invisible City
A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
Ratings35
Average rating3.9
A wonderful work on a subject that is so obvious to us: urban design. From constructive gimmicks for livability to hostile anti-degradation, from institutional designs to urban guerrilla DIY, this book explores a range of solutions that we experience every day without realizing how much work is behind them! And it does so enthusiastically, gracefully, and carefully researched in each chapter. Guaranteed: you will never see the city around you with the same eyes again!
I was hoping this would be about a bunch of cool infrastructure but instead it's a series of crappy ted talks in book form.
This was great! Read by the author, who also has a podcast (just signed up!), and the book grew out of the podcast. I learned so much! The audiobook includes a Q&A between the two authors, and an episode of the podcast. I also had the ebook, which includes diagrams and photos. I want a copy of the physical book.. this one is a keeper!
“Cities might not always function as smoothly as we might wish, but given the number of different people working to keep them going, well, it's pretty amazing that they work at all.”
~
Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstecdt did a fun job of bringing into the light many hidden features built into the cities around us. This was an entertaining and captivating narrative, sharing the many intricate, yet overlooked details built into our everyday lives. Like revolving doors: they can cause anxiety and joy in people, but they were made to be a door that is always open and always closed, mainly to reduce strain on heating and cooling systems. There are so many interesting facts in this book and I highly recommend giving it a try, you never know how many new things you will learn.
Love 99% Invisible and love this book! Minus one star for the lack of photos. The illustrations are aesthetically pleasing but ineffective at communicating detail.
This is not a book, it's a long and tedious list of random stuff loosely organized into chapters. It's the most bored I've ever been reading something fascinating.