Have you ever stopped to consider why you don't see metal fire escapes on new buildings? Or pondered the story behind those dancing inflatable figures in car dealerships? Mars and Kohlstedt reveal the stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. They celebrate design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs. This exploration of the origins and stories behind power grids, fire escapes, drinking fountains and more will delight anyone curious about design, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them. -- adapted from wrap-around and Amazon info.

1. Inconspicuous -- Ubiquitous -- Official graffiti: utility codes -- Initialed impressions: sidewalk markings -- Planned failure: breakaway posts -- A little safer: emergency boxes -- Camouflage -- Thornton's scent bottle: stink pipes -- Exhaustive outlets: fake facades -- Catalytic diverters: ventilation buildings -- Neighborhood transformers: electrical substations -- Cellular biology: wireless towers -- Resourceful artifice: production wells -- Accretions -- Seeing stars: anchor plates -- Scarchitecture: urban infill -- Lines of sight: relay nodes -- Thomassons: maintained remains -- Accumulative controversy: love locks -- Spolia of war: constructive reuse -- 2. Conspicuous -- Identity -- Vexillology rules: municipal flags -- Public bodies: civic monuments -- Fonts of knowledge: historical plaques -- Distinguished features: that fancy shape -- Safety -- Mixed signals: traffic lights -- Visibility aids: retroreflective studs -- Checkered past: recognition patterns -- Memorable but meaningless: warning symbols -- Signs of times: shelter markers -- Signage -- Broad strokes: hand-painted graphics -- tube benders: neon lights -- Sky dancers: inflatable figures -- Outstanding directors: production placards -- Minded businesses: absent advertising -- 3. Infrastructure -- Civic -- Bureaucracy inaction: incidental bridge -- Good delivery: postal service -- Water -- Rounding down: manhole covers -- Upwardly potable: drinking fountains -- Reversing course: waste management -- Circling back: subsurface cisterns -- Apples to oysters: flood mitigation -- Technology -- Fine lines: utility poles -- Alternated currents: power grids -- Moonlight towers: street lights -- Dialed back: electricity meters -- Network effects: internet cables -- Roadways -- Accelerating change: painting centerlines -- Shifting responsibility: blaming jaywalkers -- Key indicators: crash testing -- Cemented divisions: lane separators -- Extra turns: safer intersections -- Circulating logic: rotary junctions -- Incomplete stops: calming tragic -- Reversing gears: changing lanes -- Public -- On verges: interstitial spaces -- Crossing over: pedestrian signals -- Sharrowed routes: cycling lanes -- Congestion costs: easing gridlock -- Extravehicular activities: naked streets -- 4. Architecture -- Liminal -- Imperfect security: locked entries -- Open and shut: revolving doors -- Improved egress: emergency exits -- Materials -- Stolen facades: recycling brick -- Aggregate effects: cracking concrete -- Hybrid solutions: amassing timber -- Regulations -- Secular orders: taxable units -- formative setbacks: mansard roofs -- Heaven to hell: property limits -- Towers -- Braking good: modern elevators -- Cladding skeletons: curtain walls -- Topping out: skyscraper races -- Unanticipated loads: managing crises -- Perspective matters: redefining skylines -- Beyond above: engineering icons -- Grouped dynamics: street canyons -- Foundations -- Vernacular enclaves: international districts -- Reality checks: service centers -- Approachable ducks: commercial signifies -- Competitive starchitecture: contrasting additions -- Heritage -- Heathen's gate: overlapping narratives -- Landmark ruling: historic preservation -- Recrowned jewel: complex restoration -- Architectural license: faithless reconstruction -- Unnatural selection: subjective stabilization -- Faded attraction: alluring abandonment -- Runed landscapes: peripheral traces -- Unbuilding codes: premeditated deconstruction -- 5. Geography -- Delineations -- Points of origin: zero markers -- Edge cases: boundary stones -- Defining moments: standardized time -- Road boosters: national highways -- Configurations -- Rounding errors: Jeffersonian grids -- Unassigned lands: patchwork plans -- Rectilinear revelations: coordinated layouts -- Good eixamples: reconfigured super-blocks -- Standard deviation: growth patterns -- Designations -- Citations needed: informal geonyms -- Hybrid acronames: neighborhood monikers -- Calculated omissions: unlucky numbers -- Deliberated errors: fictitious entries -- Misplaced locations: null island -- Paced ways: Tucson stravenues -- Accessible voids: nameless places -- Landscapes -- Graveyard shifts: pastoral parks -- Trailing spaces: converted greenways -- Courting palms: street trees -- Lawn enforcement: owned backyards -- Lofty treescrapers: ungrounded plants -- Synanthropes -- Naturalized denizens: common squirrels -- Ghost streams: fish stories -- Home to roost: unloved doves -- Raccoon resistance: trash pandas -- Unmanned lands: wildlife corridors -- 6. Urbanism -- Hostilities -- Loved park: dubious skateblockers -- Urine trouble: discouraging spikes -- Obstinate objects: discomforting seats -- Cities of light: dissuasive illumination -- Targeting demographics: disruptive sounds -- Exterior motives: deceptive deterrents -- Interventions -- Guerrilla fixation: unsanctioned shield --- Drawing attention: viral signage -- Asking permission: open hydrants -- Seeking forgiveness: embattled boulders -- Legitimizing action: middle way -- Catalysts -- Ramping up: cutting curbs -- Cycling through: clearing cars -- Driving away: appropriating parklets -- Grating on: grassroots gardening -- Bumping out: collaborative peacemaking.