This book contains images of 120 Manhole Cover designs from 100 cities in 20 different countries. Manhole Covers are a neglected form of street art. They are largely ignored even though we encounter them every day. We walk, drive and cycle over them. Usually we don’t take any notice of them: they are just there, all around us on roads and pavements in many different shapes, sizes and patterns. – an essential, but ignored, part of the architecture of our urban environment. They are part of our Urban Architecture. This comprises elements of the cities in which we live, play and work. It includes street lamps; mail and post boxes; shop fronts and signs; shutters and windows; doors and door knockers on private and public buildings; mail, post and telephone boxes; statues in parks; stone ornaments and metal plaques on houses and in gardens in public and private spaces; fountain and monuments; etc. And Manhole Covers. We live in not one, but rather two, urban environments. An overground one; and a parallel, underground, subterranean one that is hidden from us, is unknown, and consequently ignored. Manhole Covers are an interface between these two worlds of light and darkness. As a form of street art, a Manhole Covers provide a surface – a canvas, if you like – for a wealth of industrial and artistic expression in the open-air urban art gallery that we (usually subconsciously) visit daily. The collection of Manhole Covers in this book includes Art Deco-style Manhole Covers with geometric patterns; Art Nouveau-style Manhole Covers with winding and twisting patterns; and a whole range of Manhole Covers with designs both ancient and modern. They are rich in imagery whether it be the coat of arms or view of a city, a company logo, a regional animal, bird or fish, or even an inspirational message --‘ I Have A D ream’– a dream of what? A Manhole Cover?.