Kurt Kohlstedt is a skeptical urbanist and design journalist who writes, edits, and produces stories for 99% Invisible. He is known for The 99% Invisible City, a New York Times Bestselling book, as well as contributions to discourse on adaptive reuse and assistive technology.
As of late 2025, Kurt has worked on 99pi for over a decade, making him the show’s most veteran producer. During his tenure, 99% Invisible has won notable accolades from the Third Coast Audio Festival, Discover Pods Awards, Webby Awards, Signal Awards, and Academy of Podcasters Awards, in categories such as Best Podcast, People’s Choice, Society & Culture, and Arts.
99pi has also been named one of the 50 Best Podcasts by TIME magazine, 20 most influential podcasts of the last 20 years by Apple Podcasts, and has made other top-podcast shortlists on Wired, Vulture, Fast Company, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and other media outlets. 99% Invisible’s 650+ episodes have been downloaded over 500,000,000 times to date.
In 2018, Kurt joined 99pi’s six-city East Coast tour (in Atlanta, Durham, Washington, D.C., Boston, Brooklyn, and Manhattan), presenting to live audiences about how the invention of Kindergarten catalyzed an era of Modern art and design. He has given talks about regional designs at events like Adobe MAX in San Francisco and Nerd Nite in Oakland, and has joined numerous panel discussions, including one on urbanism and media at the AIA New York’s Center for Architecture.
A few years later, in 2020, Kurt co-authored a critically acclaimed book about the built world with show host Roman Mars, which became an overnight NYT and National Best Seller. The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design recieved glowing reviews from The New York Times and Booklist, as well as a starred review from Kirkus. It has also been adopted into university library core collections across the country. Translated editions have been published in various languages as well, including Spanish, Czech, Thai, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
In 2025, as part of a 12-part project title Adapt or Design, Kurt invented a low-cost, one-handed keyboard system for people with physical impairments — he was compelled to develop and implement this design after a debilitating injury rendered his (dominant) right hand unable to type
Back in 2007, Kurt founded WebUrbanist, the first in a series of urban architecture, art and design publications that would go on to reach hundreds of millions of readers around the world. These included Dornob and WebEcoist (respectively acquired by Internet Brands and Evolve Media).
Kurt’s research into urban design and adaptive reuse, as published on WU, has been integrated into city planning research at MIT, featured as a case study by architecture faculty, and cited as a primary source for the study of transient semiotics in the peer-reviewed journal Societies.
His analysis of sustainable urban systems has been referenced in studies published in Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy; and architectural critiques, such as the "Renderings vs. Reality" series, are cited within the ResearchGate database by scholars.
Work on WU also led to various speaking invitations, including one from the Highlands of Scotland. Kurt traveled there to give a keynote speech on abandoned architecture and adaptive reuse at the annual Highlands and Islands Architecture Association (HIAA) award conference.
Over the years, Kurt and his flagship web publication were praised by media outlets including (but not limited to) The Guardian, The BBC, CNN, NPR, TIME, ArchDaily, Architizer, Atlas Obscura, BoingBoing, BuzzFeed, Citylab, Curbed, FARK, FastCompany, FOX, Gawker, Gizmodo, Mental Floss, Metafilter, MSNBC, Neatorama, Slashdot, Streetsblog, WebWare and Wired Magazine.
Kurt studied philosophy (BA) at Carleton College and received a graduate degree in architecture (M. Arch) from the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. He also participted in a specialized architecture program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD).
As a young adult, Kurt worked on residential, industrial, theatrical, furniture, graphic and web design projects. Upon completing his professional degree, he gave himself three months to turn a rent-paying profit on his first design website. He hit that mark and kept on going.
P.S. Feel free to reach out regarding speaking engagements, panels, and other professional (ad)ventures … or simply to go grab a coffee and nerd out together in the Twin Cities!
📧 Kurt àt urbanist dót us
