An exploration of how some of the world's biggest man-made structures were built.
Self - Host
No overview available.
8 episodes
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 minA 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 minFrom a logistical railway nightmare to an indoor tropical dreamscape, watch engineers and builders complete the impossible.
Runtime: 43 minTravel to a French valley, a Shanghai quarry, and the middle of Milan and witness architectural and engineering wonders.
Runtime: 43 minWatch architectural and engineering minds defy gravity and create artistic wonders in Belgium, Scotland, and Manhattan.
Runtime: 43 minTake a trip to Rotterdam, Guangzhou, and London and witness astounding feats of design and engineering.
Runtime: 43 minWitness a garden in the sky, a pier in the clouds, and a railway station that laughs in the face of natural disasters.
Runtime: 43 minTravel to Antarctica, Scotland, and the Canary Islands and witness wonders of engineering and design.
Runtime: 43 minNo overview available.
10 episodes
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 minEngineers 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 minExperts 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 minSee 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 minA 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 minThe 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 minExperts 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 minWe 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 minWe 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 minA 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 minNo overview available.
10 episodes
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 minA 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 minEngineers 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 minA 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 minA 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 minA 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 minArchitects 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 minA 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 minA 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 minThe American Museum of Natural History gets a cave-like extension; Boston University gains a tower.
Runtime: 45 min