The 99% Invisible City

The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design is a 2020 non-fiction hardcover book on urban design and architecture co-authored by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the book details the origins, engineering, and design of common urban elements, including utility infrastructure, signage, and buildings.^[1] Upon release, it became a commercial success, debuting on The New York Times Best Seller list.^[2]

While the book shares its title and thematic focus with the design podcast 99% Invisible, it functions as a standalone reference text rather than a narrative adaptation of the show's episodes.^[3]

The book is organized as a field guide intended to classify the built environment.^[4] It is divided into six thematic chapters: Inconspicuous, Conspicuous, Infrastructure, Architecture, Geography, and Urbanism.

The authors broke things down into 100 entries that define specific design components of cities and explain them through stories.^[5] Topics include:

• Utility and Access: The meanings behind colored spray-paint markings on sidewalks, the circular geometry of manhole covers, and the use of Knox Boxes.^[6]
• Safety and Engineering: The evolution of external fire escapes, "breakaway" utility poles, and tuned mass dampers in skyscrapers.^[7]
• Urban Geography: The history of "sneckdowns" and the design of desire paths.^[4]
• Antisocial Design: Examples of hostile architecture and the role of spite houses.^[5]

The project was developed as a collaboration between Mars, the host of 99% Invisible, and Kohlstedt, the program's digital director. Mars had previously "resisted" adapting the podcast into a book, stating that he preferred the "perversity" of describing visual design through the non-visual medium of audio.^[8] This transition to print was described as a "pivot" that enabled the authors to better communicate stories that required visual aid.^[9]

The breakthrough for the project occurred when Kohlstedt pitched the concept of a "field guide" rather than a narrative history. Mars cited this as the key factor that convinced him to move forward:

The first idea that I grabbed onto for doing this book was something that Kurt Kohlstedt had mentioned, which was the Field Guide as an idea... By using some of the elements of the Field Guide, you can start to tell your stories based on objects or things that you come across.^[8]

The book's framework also drew on Kohlstedt's background as the founder of the design publication WebUrbanist.^[10] These taxonomic features informed the digital strategy for 99% Invisible and later provided the framework for the book, which synthesized material from article and audio archives as well as new stories not previously covered.^[11]

The book features over 100 line drawings by artist Patrick Vale and graphic design by Raphael Geroni.^[12] The illustrations were specifically commissioned to provide the visual clarity required for a field guide, focusing on technical details of urban infrastructure that are difficult to capture through photography. This collaborative design process was intended to mirror the podcast's aesthetic while utilizing the unique strengths of print, such as the inclusion of a "hidden" design "guide to the cover" on the book's "half-jacket" cover.^[13]

The book received positive reviews from general interest and architectural publications. Writing for The New York Times Book Review, historian Kenneth T. Jackson described the work as "fresh and imaginative."^[1] Kirkus Reviews awarded the book a starred review, characterizing it as an "ideal companion for city buffs."^[4]

In The Architect's Newspaper, critic Diana Budds stated that the authors were "democratizing architectural history" by focusing on vernacular and everyday objects.^[14] Critical response also highlighted the authors' ability to find "mystery and wonder" in mundane objects like curb cuts.^[11]

The book also garnered significant endorsements from the design and literary communities. Graphic designer Michael Bierut praised the text as "a field guide, a boon, a bible, for the urban curious," stating that it provides "a new way of seeing urban life."^[15] In Europe, reviewers compared the authors' detailed focus on the functional beauty of the built environment to a 21st-century Jane Jacobs for their ability to reframe "invisible ordinariness" as vital urban ingenuity.^[10] Author John Green further commended the work, adding: "This book made me laugh, and it made me cry, and it reminded me to always read the plaque."^[15]

The book was published in the United States on October 6, 2020, by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It was released in the United Kingdom and Australia by Hodder & Stoughton, and in Canada by HarperCollins.^[16] Following its success in English, the book was translated into several languages including Spanish, Czech, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.^[10] A Thai edition was published in 2022 by Bookscape.^[17]

In October 2020, to support the release of The 99% Invisible City, Mars and Kohlstedt conducted a virtual book tour in lieu of physical events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[18][19] The promotional campaign featured a series of livestreamed, longform conversations with prominent authors and journalists exploring the book's themes of urban design and history.

Notable events included a discussion with author Seth Godin and a featured conversation with educator Hank Green for the Chicago Humanities Festival.^[20] The tour also included a session with The Atlantic journalist Alexis Madrigal for the Commonwealth Club of California and an interview with author Mary Roach for Literati Bookstore.^[21][22] These virtual engagements were noted for adapting traditional book promotion to a digital-first format during the pandemic.

• Official website
• 99% Uncovered: Behind-the-scenes with book designer Raphael Geroni.
• 99% Revealed: Behind-the-scenes with illustrator Patrick Vale.
• The 99% Invisible City: Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt in conversation about the book with Hank Green.