All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Cantilevers & Lifts

    • January 3, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

    Span the globe as we examine the stories behind mind-boggling buildings and lifts in Manhattan, Paris, and Zhangjiajie.

  • S01E02 Towers & Roofs

    • January 10, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

    Travel from Manhattan to Athens to Singapore as we examine incredible structures that pushed engineers to their limits.

  • S01E03 Biomes & Rebuilds

    • January 17, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

  • S01E04 Viaducts & Hotels

    • January 24, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

  • S01E05 Supertalls & Firehouses

    • January 31, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

  • S01E06 Arches & Opera Houses

    • February 14, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

  • S01E07 Sky Gardens & Seismic Stations

    • February 21, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

  • S01E08 Arctic Modules & Auditoria

    • February 28, 2021
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

Season 2

  • S02E01 Riverparks & Artworks

    • July 10, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

  • S02E02 Swamps & Swagger

    • July 17, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel
  • S02E03 Retrofits & Airport Glitz

    • July 24, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel
  • S02E04 Elevated & Elegant

    • July 31, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel
  • S02E05 Skywalks & Suspensions

    • August 7, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel
  • S02E06 Upside Down & Under Sea

    • August 14, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel

    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.

  • S02E07 Steep & Stunning

    • August 21, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel
  • S02E08 Breakthroughs & Bridges

    • August 28, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel

    Visiting London's Gherkin, Seattle's Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, and Lyon's Musée des Confluences to uncover how and why they were built.

  • S02E09 Mirrors & Marble

    • September 4, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel
  • S02E10 Radical & Resplendant

    • September 4, 2022
    • Smithsonian Channel

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

Season 3

  • S03E01 Fantastic & Futuristic

    • August 18, 2024

    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.

  • S03E02 Jungles & Bricks

    • August 25, 2024

    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.

  • S03E03 Canyons & Curves

    • September 2, 2024

    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.

  • S03E04 Parking & Sparkling

    • September 8, 2024

    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.

  • S03E05 Heights & Balance

    • September 15, 2024

    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.

  • S03E06 Tricks & Trains

    • September 22, 2024

    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 deploys inventive acoustic engineering.

  • S03E07 Floating & Lifting

    • September 29, 2024

    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, massive spans, and earthquake resistance.

  • S03E08 Subways & Sightlines

    • October 6, 2024

    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. And Tokyo’s tallest tower requires extreme earthquake-proof engineering.

  • S03E09 Curved & Cables

    • October 13, 2024

    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. And a Miami museum gains a 4.5 million gallon shark tank, with a 31 foot wide viewing window.

  • S03E10 Boxes & Birds

    • October 20, 2024

    The American Museum of Natural History in NYC gets a mind blowing cave-like extension. An arts center inspired by migrating birds is built on a lake in China. Boston University gains a fossil-free, Jenga-like tower.