Jay Ellis as Self - Host
Episodes 28
Cantilevers & Lifts
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.
Read MoreTowers & Roofs
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.
Read MoreBiomes & Rebuilds
From a logistical railway nightmare to an indoor tropical dreamscape, watch engineers and builders complete the impossible.
Read MoreViaducts & Hotels
Travel to a French valley, a Shanghai quarry, and the middle of Milan and witness architectural and engineering wonders.
Read MoreSupertalls & Firehouses
Watch architectural and engineering minds defy gravity and create artistic wonders in Belgium, Scotland, and Manhattan.
Read MoreArches & Opera Houses
Take a trip to Rotterdam, Guangzhou, and London and witness astounding feats of design and engineering.
Read MoreSky Gardens & Seismic Stations
Witness a garden in the sky, a pier in the clouds, and a railway station that laughs in the face of natural disasters.
Read MoreArctic Modules & Auditoria
Travel to Antarctica, Scotland, and the Canary Islands and witness wonders of engineering and design.
Read MoreRiverparks & Artworks
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.
Read MoreSwamps & Swagger
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.
Read MoreRetrofits & Airport Glitz
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.
Read MoreElevated & Elegant
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.
Read MoreSkywalks & Suspension
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.
Read MoreUpside Down & Under Sea
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.
Read MoreSteep & Stunning
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.
Read MoreBreakthroughs and Bridges
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.
Read MoreMirrors and Marble
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.
Read MoreRadical & Resplendant
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
Read MoreFantastic & Futuristic
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.
Read MoreJungles & Bricks
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.
Read MoreCanyons & Curves
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.
Read MoreParking & Sparkling
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.
Read MoreHeights & Balance
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.
Read MoreTricks & Trains
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.
Read MoreFloating & Lifting
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.
Read MoreSubways & Sightlines
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.
Read MoreCurved & Cables
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.
Read MoreBoxes & Birds
The American Museum of Natural History gets a cave-like extension; Boston University gains a tower.
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