Name: How Did They Build That?
Genre: Documentary
Cast: Jay Ellis

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Jay Ellis

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

How Did They Build That?

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.

Cantilevers & Lifts

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.

Towers & Roofs

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

Biomes & Rebuilds

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

Viaducts & Hotels

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

Supertalls & Firehouses

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

Arches & Opera Houses

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

Sky Gardens & Seismic Stations

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

Arctic Modules & Auditoria

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.

Riverparks & Artworks

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.

Swamps & Swagger

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.

Retrofits & Airport Glitz

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.

Elevated & Elegant

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.

Skywalks & Suspension

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.

Upside Down & Under Sea

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.

Steep & Stunning

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.

Breakthroughs and Bridges

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.

Mirrors and Marble

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

Radical & Resplendant

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.

Fantastic & Futuristic

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.

Jungles & Bricks

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.

Canyons & Curves

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.

Parking & Sparkling

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.

Heights & Balance

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.

Tricks & Trains

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.

Floating & Lifting

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.

Subways & Sightlines

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.

Curved & Cables

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

Boxes & Birds

Lives are on the line creating the International Space Station, a scientific marvel a decade in the making, that changes the way we look at the world.

Space Stations & Super Inventions

A floating museum honors military heroes in Texas. A sky-park casino balances on six towers. And an office is carved out to protect NYC's High Line.

Medals & Marinas

A railway-spanning library mimics the clouds. A speed-core skyscraper is built in record time. And a world first bridge inspired by a child's toy.

Speedcore & Steambend

Apartments hanging 164 feet above the water defy gravity in Amsterdam. A trio of towers shimmer on Chicago's skyline, and museum design is revolutionized in Paris.

High Waters & Harsh Winds

An airport gets a 9 acre roof without stopping flights. A museum is buried in the desert to keep it cool. And building San Fran's most hated tower.

Ecobuilds & Earthquakes

A 284ft timber tower tests fire safety limits. An old crane tracks is reborn as sleek glass offices. And 28 apartments are stacked on a 21ft plot.

Shipyards & Slender Builds

A mountain-top centre defies extreme altitude. A stunning museum is sunk into an old dock. And a 600ft tower with floating gardens rises in Singapore.

Summit & Submerge

A museum bends 1,100 glass tubes into a bold facade. A vast atrium rises where the Berlin Wall fell, and a NJ bridge is raised 65ft for huge tankers.

Facelifts & Scaffolds

A 70,000 seat stadium defies seismic forces in LA. Malta's 33 story tower twists around old vaults. And an 807ft elevator test tower spirals skywards.

Super Stadiums & Extraordinary Elevators

San Francisco's MOMA dramatically triples in size. A skyscraper transforms by smart demolition. And 5 acres of parkland floats above Dallas traffic.

Floating Parks & Upcycled Towers

In Oklahoma, a sacred spiral mound rises on a former oilfield, honouring 39 tribes. London's crumbling Battersea Power Station is reborn with two million new bricks. And in Spain, Frank Gehry crowns a historic winery.

Reborn Buildings & Sacred Grounds

Milwaukee commissions Calatrava to design a museum with 90-ton wings that take flight. Oslo tears down its national ski jump and rebuilds it for the World Championships. And in LA, a 235-foot tower is wrapped in steel bands

Earthquakes & Exoskeletons

Witness amazing buildings, bridges, lifts, and other structures that pushed structural concrete engineering to the edge.

Cable Cars & Rooftop Parks

In Chicago, twin concrete towers push the limits of high-rise design. Engineers conquer the sea to unite Sweden and Denmark. And in Sydney, Norman Foster and team take on the challenge of a new metro station that can't disrupt the busy streets above.

How Did They Build That?

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