A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt
What a unique and terrific book this is. Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt have given us a guidebook to the city we inhabit daily, but never really see.
This adjunct to their podcast, “99% Invisible,” documents everything from the mundane (manhole covers, spray-painted sidewalk markers that trace utility lines, anchor plates and painted signage on old buildings) to large-scale urban architecture and planning (the story of the Chrysler Building or the Transamerica Pyramid, say, or the layout of Detroit streets or the birth of the US Interstate Highway System.)
To my mind they save the most touching to last: stories of citizens shaping urban spaces on their own, without the intervention of designers or the approval of governments. From the Oakland resident who installs a concrete Buddha across from his house to discourage crime, only to find it become a community hub and a pilgrimage site for Vietnamese immigrants, to gorilla gardeners beautifying unused interstitial spaces, to disability activists carving their right to the city by sledgehammering curb cuts.
Beautifully designed and illustrated, this handsome book is a compendium of things whimsical and mind-blowing that will change how you navigate the city you love. { Cross-posted at goodreads. }