Kurt Kohlstedt

Pretty rad -- any that have people (even if just sketchy/for scale), nature and/or animals (low-detail is fine)? Feel free to DM had them closed off by accident before.

Ooh, this is promising. Curious if you have work with animals or people (not as primary figures, but for scale, smaller, secondary, etc...)

Looking for an architectural illustrator (paid work) -- someone with a basic ability to sketch out low-detail building types, simple sections, site plans, diagrams, and so on. Drop a link to your website/portfolio if interested. Including some general vibe examples.

This is The 99% Invisible City. I'm Курт Кольстедт. (CC @romanmars.bsky.social AKA Роман Марс)

We've decided to share a set of four of our favorite stories from the half decade– each of which corresponds to one of the four main chapters of The 99% Invisible City.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

In which I host this week's episode of @99pi.org :o

Spot the rabbit?! Ninja bunny makes for an apt 'easter egg' on this Mpls manhole cover, surrounded by ladyslippers. 🐇🥚

WebUrbanist Urban Art, Architecture, Design & Built Environments

Where it all started: in 2007, I launched WebUrbanist, promising myself that I would make rent within 3 months or find a 'real job.'

Then I traded my 'freedom' for the best job ever @99pi.org, and went on to write a Bestseller with @romanmars.bsky.social

Best decisions of my professional life! 🤓

I gues the question is: do/can you use either Lenovo keyboard or (if on the move) a Lenovo computer, so uou get thjat built-in nub mouse? A lot depends on your setup and its limitations (e.g. if you move around a lot vs working at a desk) 3/3

That all being said, you can also use key remapping to create shortcuts you use frequently. For instance, in Docs, toggling voice to text is shift, ctrl, s -- but since I don't have anything tied to ctrl s alone, I made that como output the three-button command.

So my Lenovo keyboard has a mouse 'nub' built in and buttons close to hand, pun intended, below the spacebar. So in my case I shift with left pinky and thumb the mouse and it's buttons *or* if I need all three: thumb for buttons, pointer finger for mouse. 1/x

I finally went full nerd with some new black-and-white MN state plates.

(So feel free to shout 'nerd!' if you see me driving out and about in beautiful Midtown, Minneapolis, Minnesota.) #99pi

Just purchased a 'missing middle' New Urbanist townhouse in Riverside, which was built as part of a block-sized, mixed-density development. Will soon be selling my adaptive reuse condo in the mixed-use Midtown Exchange Building.

Sometimes I feel like a parody of my (den)city-loving self 😜

Celebrating the 5th anniversary of our NYT Bestseller: The 99% Invisible City 🥳 ... and my own *10th year* at #99pi !!!

We defined the medium! Also excited to see my current and former Radiotopia chums in this list.

Baskets on e-bikes probably sounded like a good idea during a lazy boardroom chat.

But anyone with an ounce of common sense could have foreseen that they would become (decfacto) public trash bins (without anyone to empty them, no less). Next iteration: a built-in bungee cord ststem perhaps...

Obligatory pics of the city's famous Dish Rack Bldg. (Srsly tho it's amazing in person). Pirate ship for scale ⚓☠️

Vertical additions to vintage architecture in Sydney, AU

Adapt or Design - 99% Invisible Last year, 99pi’s Kurt Kohlstedt suffered a severe injury that incapacitated his right arm and dominant hand. In the aftermath, new everyday challenges led him to research, test, and evolve accessible...

Months in the making, my 12-part project on accessible design: 99pi.org/adapt (companion episode w/Roman Mars @ 99pi.org/episode/630-... )

Of all the parts of these multiple series I'm working on about adaptive one-handed technology and design for long-haul injuries ... this is the only one that was better served without images of me or designs. Better to just let Ohren bask in the limelight and show off some of his seasonal apparel 🤩

Single Handed (6 of 6): Hand Lenders Point Out Adaptive Designs & Helpful Ideas - 99% Invisible Each of the five pieces in this miniseries, leading up to this one, has considered a different subset of adaptive design problems for people dealing with one working hand, like I was in the wake of a ...

Wrapping up Single Handed, a six-part mini-series on adaptive designs for (fellow) functionally one-handed users. But there's more to come ... starting tomorrow with another arc of stories set at the intersection of design and long-haul physical rehabilitation. 99pi.org/article/one-...

Cover of The 99% Invisible City book and photos of the authors.

The Scarchitecture chapter in the book, along with a list of key related themes: Scars, change, investment, (re)zoning, Land (re)use, infill, palimpsest.

Putting the burn in Burnaby. The ghost streams chapter in the book and a map of waterways in Burnaby, including Still Creek, which is more or less covered/daylighted along its course from Vancouver into Burnaby.

A slide from the wrap-up lecture. A version of the 99% Invisible podcast 'motto,' always read the plaque' with my admonition for critical geographers: "And ... always read between & beyond the lines on the plaque."

Went fully invisible (or 99% Invisible) in my 200-level urban geography course this semester. Used @romanmars.bsky.social & @kurtkohlstedt.bsky.social's @99pi.org book, The 99% Invisible City, as the textbook, & academic geographers' writings. Getting students to critically notice the city. #geosky

Single Handed (3 of 6): Inclusive Left-Sided Apparel Embodies "Found Fashion" Ethos - 99% Invisible Last year, I found myself working my way through my wardrobe, considering what I could and couldn’t wear comfortably with a newly disabled right arm. Among other concerns, I knew a lot of my clothes w...

"I’m not in the (cargo) pocket of Big Prana" may be the best line I ever write ✨

Single Handed (1 of 6): Design Adaptations for Living with One (Functional) Hand - 99% Invisible Last year, I suffered a severe injury initially rendering my right arm and hand both completely numb and paralyzed. Tests revealed severe damage to a network of nerves called the brachial plexus.…

Last year, 99pi's @KurtKohlstedt suffered a severe injury initially rendering his right arm and hand both completely numb and paralyzed .... This is the first article in a six-part mini-series that covers a range of adaptive designs for people with one working hand. 99pi.org/article/adap...

Twin Cities 99% Invisible fans: I'm organizing a 99pi meetup in the Mpls/St. Paul area. Possibly: coffee or lunch at the Midtown Market (details TBD).

Interested? Send your name & email address to kurt {at} 99pi {dot} org with "MSPI" in the subject line! #99pi #MSPI

-= @KurtKohlstedt

Urban reuse is as old as cities. Wherever there has been long-term human habitation, there has been spolia, Latin for “spoils,” as in “the spoils of war” -- pieces of old architecture creatively incorporated into brand new buildings. #99pi #99piCity #Book 99percentinvisible.org/article/spol...

My favorite spot in Seattle, my old stomping grounds, is a green space bridging a massive motorway -- skip the Space Needle and check out Freeway Park #99pi

Mini-Stories: Volume 20 - 99% Invisible Happy New Year! We’re starting 2025 with four more mini stories! This week we have a sleepy button, electric signs, a very important sticker, and video you can smell. Let’s get into it! Snooze Buttons...

Final @99pi.org mini stories of this cycle - featuring the great @kellyprime.bsky.social, a fun one from @kurtkohlstedt.bsky.social and the triumphant return of Gillian Jacobs! This is a really fun set.
99percentinvisible.org/episode/610-...