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How Did They Build That?
2021 - 2024 6.0 (1 votes) 3 Seasons
Official Website
Genres
Documentary
Networks
Smithsonian Channel

How Did They Build That?

Overview

An exploration of how some of the world's biggest man-made structures were built.

Top Cast

Jay Ellis
Jay Ellis

Self - Host

Seasons

Season 1 poster
Season 1 (2021)

No overview available.

8 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Cantilevers & Lifts
2021-01-03

A Manhattan skyscraper designed to appear as if gust of wind could topple it over. A Paris museum described as an engineer's "jigsaw puzzle from hell," with 3,500 individually designed glass panels. And a cliffside elevator in Zhangjiajie so remotely located, it had to be built entirely by hand. Join us as we travel the globe to witness astonishing structures that pushed architecture and the laws of physics to the edge. Then meet the brilliant minds who designed and built these wonders and discover the stories behind their construction.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 2: Towers & Roofs
2021-01-10

A bent Manhattan building that actually caused panic in the streets. A cultural center in Athens that features a massive floating roof in an earthquake zone. A university complex in stifling Singapore that was built without air conditioning. In this episode, we examine the American Copper Building, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, and "The Hive" at Nanyang Technical University, meeting the brilliant minds who designed and built them, and revealing their engineering secrets.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 3: Biomes & Rebuilds
2021-01-17

From a logistical railway nightmare to an indoor tropical dreamscape, watch engineers and builders complete the impossible.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 4: Viaducts & Hotels
2021-01-24

Travel to a French valley, a Shanghai quarry, and the middle of Milan and witness architectural and engineering wonders.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 5: Supertalls & Firehouses
2021-01-31

Watch architectural and engineering minds defy gravity and create artistic wonders in Belgium, Scotland, and Manhattan.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 6: Arches & Opera Houses
2021-02-14

Take a trip to Rotterdam, Guangzhou, and London and witness astounding feats of design and engineering.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 7: Sky Gardens & Seismic Stations
2021-02-21

Witness a garden in the sky, a pier in the clouds, and a railway station that laughs in the face of natural disasters.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 8: Arctic Modules & Auditoria
2021-02-28

Travel to Antarctica, Scotland, and the Canary Islands and witness wonders of engineering and design.

Runtime: 43 min
Season 2 poster
Season 2 (2022)

No overview available.

10 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Riverparks & Artworks
2022-07-10

Traveling to New York, Denver and Nice, France to visit Little Island, the Denver Museum of Art and La Tête Carrée and revealing how they were built.

Runtime: 42 min
Episode 2: Swamps & Swagger
2022-07-17

Engineers explain the constructions of architect Santiago Calatrava's university building in Florida, architect Frank Gehry's museum in Spain, and cultural center The Shed in New York City.

Runtime: 42 min
Episode 3: Retrofits & Airport Glitz
2022-07-24

Experts explain the engineering behind the creation of architect Norman Foster's Hearst Tower in NYC, Jewel Changi airport in Singapore, and architect Yann Weymouth's Dali Museum in Florida.

Runtime: 42 min
Episode 4: Elevated & Elegant
2022-07-31

See the architectural secrets behind a Canadian school on stilts, a sports museum that traces Louisiana’s history and an opulent train station in Belgium.

Runtime: 42 min
Episode 5: Skywalks & Suspension
2022-08-07

A glass bridge arcing over the Grand Canyon, the weather-resistant Audain Art Museum in Whistler, Canada, and Zaha Hadid's university library in Vienna are explored.

Runtime: 42 min
Episode 6: Upside Down & Under Sea
2022-08-14

The innovative designs of the gravity-defying Vancouver House, the subaquatic Under restaurant and the cantilevered Seattle Central Library challenged engineers to think outside the box.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 7: Steep & Stunning
2022-08-21

Experts explain how engineers built the world's steepest funicular railway in the Swiss Alps and how construction of Zaha Hadid's residential high-rise in Miami overcame a hurricane.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 8: Breakthroughs and Bridges
2022-08-28

We visit London’s Gherkin, Seattles’s Evergreen Point floating bridge and Lyon’s Mysee des Confluences to uncover how and why they were built.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 9: Mirrors and Marble
2022-09-04

We visit Australia’s One Central Park, The Oslo Opera house and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco to reveal their architectural secrets.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 10: Radical & Resplendant
2022-09-18

A look at the design and engineering stories behind DC’s Museum of African American History, the Montreal tower and the Equinor building in Oslo

Runtime: 45 min
Season 3 poster
Season 3 (2024)

No overview available.

10 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Fantastic & Futuristic
2024-08-18

A sculptural new transportation hub for New York's World Trade Center is beset by challenges. Then, Amsterdam gains a striking building inspired by a mountain valley, and a new launchpad for space travel prepares for liftoff.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 2: Jungles & Bricks
2024-08-25

A gravity defying university building in Sydney, Australia, is clad in 320,000 bricks. Engineers grapple with making an angular arts center tornado proof in Oklahoma. And a plant-filled office building.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 3: Canyons & Curves
2024-09-01

Engineers grapple with an apartment building, ripped apart by a man-made canyon. The iconic Gateway Arch takes shape in St Louis, Missouri. And an unpromising plot in Copenhagen is transformed by a gleaming new triangular office building.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 4: Parking & Sparkling
2024-09-08

A dazzling new 1400 foot tapering skyscraper is built right next to New York's Grand Central. A curving wine museum requires ingenious engineering in Bordeaux, France. And possibly the world's most glamorous parking garage.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 5: Heights & Balance
2024-09-15

A 1.2 million square foot office building balances precariously on a 39 foot wide base in Chicago. A building named Pterodactyl lands on top of a Los Angeles parking garage. And the world's longest suspension footbridge is constructed in Czechia.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 6: Tricks & Trains
2024-09-22

A new Olympic and Paralympic museum tests engineers with its trailblazing accessible design. A dazzling curved glass skyscraper battles gravity in Milan. And a student center built under a noisy railroad.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 7: Floating & Lifting
2024-09-29

Architects and engineers build an eco-friendly convention center on Vancouver's waterfront, a lift bridge in Bordeaux and a cocoon-shaped skyscraper in Tokyo each with unique challenges like marine habitats and massive spans.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 8: Subways & Sightlines
2024-10-06

A sculptural high-rise with rippling balconies breaks the mold in Chicago. Mammoth machines bore 26 miles of tunnels for an underground railroad beneath London's city streets.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 9: Curved & Cables
2024-10-13

A new performance center with a tent-like glass-and-steel lobby tests engineers in Kansas City; two twisting apartment towers make heads spin in Ontario.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 10: Boxes & Birds
2024-10-20

The American Museum of Natural History gets a cave-like extension; Boston University gains a tower.

Runtime: 45 min

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