“Everywhere and Nowhere”

A good friend said “It’s everywhere and nowhere” regarding Covid-19 last year – so true when we read about the pandemic’s global impact in a timespan when no one we knew had the disease.  Or when we first went to the grocery store and didn’t know if the virus was on the side of the milk carton or suspended in the air. 

“Everywhere and nowhere” is something I think about frequently as a greater concept – how are we influenced or affected by the things that surround us that we may not be able to see, hear, feel, or consciously perceive?  Maybe it is a part of why I went to school for urban planning? Places are crammed with elements that make us comfortable, uncomfortable, and ultimately dictate our quality of life – some elements we notice without knowing what goes into them, other elements we think we understand but don’t.

Authors Roman Mars & Kurt Kohlstedt explore a related concept in their book The 99% Invisible City, A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design. The book makes the claim that we only perceive and understand 1% of elements in our cities. People have taken interest – it’s a best-selling book and I’m the 14th person on the library waitlist to check it out. 

In the meantime, I’m enjoying the associated podcast that makes me think about things in a new way – try it, I think you’ll like it.

https://99percentinvisible.org

-Ellison