Design

'An understanding of the ways of our tūpuna, coupled with the best of new thinking from New Zealand and abroad, has significant potential for sustainable housing models.' Colonial settlement and the discriminatory policies of successive governments have challenged Māori connections to whenua and kāinga. Today, home ownership rates for Māori are well below the national average and Māori are over-represented in the statistics of substandard housing. Rebuilding the Kāinga charts the recent resurgence of contemporary papakāinga on whenua Māori. Reframing Māori housing as a Treaty issue, Kake envisions a future where Māori are supported to build businesses and affordable homes on whānau, hapū or Treaty settlement lands. The implications of this approach, Kake writes, are transformative.

From award-winning author Annette Bay Pimentel and illustrator Madison Safer, Before Colors is an oversize nonfiction picture book exploring pigments and dyes made from natural sources—across time and around the world. Colors don’t come out of nothing. They always start somewhere . . . With something . . . With someone. Discover how color is harnessed from nature in this survey of dyes and pigments from around the world. Organized by color—from yellow to purple to red and more—Before Colors marries a lyrical core text with tons of informational material for curious readers. In the narrative text, readers will encounter markers and artists as they source and process materials, transforming the most unexpected things into vibrant pigments and dyes. The sidebars offer much more to discover, including extensive lists of specific shades, short bios of colorful characters, and more.

A beautifully designed guidebook to the unnoticed yet essential elements of our cities, from the creators of the wildly popular 99% Invisible podcast Have you ever wondered what those bright, squiggly graffiti marks on the sidewalk mean? Or 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? 99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs. Now, in The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to Hidden World of Everyday Design, host Roman Mars and coauthor Kurt Kohlstedt zoom in on the various elements that make our cities work, exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs. With deeply researched entries and beautiful line drawings throughout, The 99% Invisible City will captivate devoted fans of the show and anyone curious about design, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them.