Bio
Kurt Kohlstedt is a writer, editor and digital director at 99% Invisible, a radio show and website about design. Kurt was born in upstate New York and grew up in Minnesota. The child of two professors, he also lived abroad periodically during sabbatical years in places like Germany and Australia.
After graduate school, Kurt founded WebUrbanist, an urban architecture, art and design publication — the first in a series of four design-centered websites that reached hundreds of millions of readers over the years, and were supported by a talented array of authors, designers and developers.
After graduating from Carleton College, Kurt interned in architecture, graphic, and industrial design firms in the US and abroad, then moved to Seattle where he worked in carpentry and construction before going to grad school. He later joined 99pi in Oakland before moving back to Minnesota during the pandemic, where he continues to work on the show remotely. Kurt also co-authored the NYT Bestselling book The 99% Invisible City with show host and creator Roman Mars. Over the years, Kurt’s travels have taken him to New Zealand, China, Japan, Belize, Mexico, and Canada, as well as various European countries. Favorite cities include: NYC and Berlin.
As a design journalist, Kurt has gone on tour with 99% Invisible, and given talks about architecture, urbanism, and storytelling to organizations and companies including the American Institute of Architects, the Highlands and Islands Architects Association and Adobe.
Previously, Kurt studied philosophy at Carleton before pursuing a graduate degree in architecture at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. Kurt has also worked on residential, industrial, graphic, furniture, theatrical and web design projects and has been known to tweet about cities, design and synanthropes.
📧 Kurt à t urbanist dót us