Cutting Corners

Five Japanese carpenters came to Boston that summer to reconstruct a Kyoto silkweaver's 150 year old townhouse that had been packed in crates and shipped to Boston Children's Museum. This first-hand observation of traditional tools and woodworking techniques chronicles the assembly process. In the progress of construction the contractor performed three Shinto housebuilding ceremonies.

Behind the iconic Eiffel Tower lies the story of an incredible challenge to erect a thousand-foot tower that went far beyond a design competition, and marked a major turning point in engineering history. It was the beginning of radical transformation where iron was pitted against stone, engineering against architecture, and modern design against ancients. Press campaigns, lobbying, public conferences, denigration of opposing projects, bragging about big names - all participants engaged in a fierce battle without concession. Using 3D recreations, official sources (reports, letters, drawings...) and intimate archives obtained from their descendants, this film will bring to life this vertical race through a fresh and visual way to mark the centenary of Eiffel death.

Explore the 1928 collapse of the St. Francis Dam, the second deadliest disaster in California history. A colossal engineering and human failure, the dam was built by William Mulholland, a self-taught engineer who ensured the growth of Los Angeles by bringing the city water via aqueduct. The catastrophe killed more than 400 people and destroyed millions of dollars of property.

The Sealab project, launched in 1969 off the shore of northern California, was the brainchild of a country doctor turned naval pioneer who dreamed of pushing the limits of ocean exploration like NASA did space exploration. The massive, 300-ton tubular structure was a pressurized underwater habitat, complete with science labs and living quarters for divers who would live and work there on the ocean floor for days or even months at a time. During the height of the Space Race, this daring program also tested the limits of human endurance and revolutionized the way humans explore the ocean.

After 10 years of tests and 12 billion Euros invested, the state-of-the-art Airbus jet completed its first commercial flight in January 2015. We will discover how it was conceived and built, and explore its technological innovations every step of the way.

A promotional film for the Ford Company detailing the introduction of the Cosworth engine into Formula 1 in conjunction with Lotus.

It's 1948 and hydro-electric power is transforming Scotland's Grampians.

Eiffel, les derniers secrets

Dr George McGavin and Dr Zoe Laughlin set up base camp at one of the UK's biggest sewage works to investigate the revolutionary science finding vital renewable resources and undiscovered life in human waste. Teaming up with world-class scientists, they search for biological entities in sewage with potentially lifesaving medical properties, find out how pee can generate electricity, how gas from poo can fuel a car and how nutrients in waste can help solve the soil crisis. They follow each stage of the sewage treatment process, revealing what the stuff we flush can tell us about how we live today, and the mindboggling biotechnology being harnessed to clean it, making the wastewater safe enough to return to the environment.

Nutné zlo

Join self confessed petrol-head Guy Martin as he learns about the alternative to the internal combustion engine, Electric. In this TV special, Guy learns about the advantages of electric transport and the different varieties that exist from bicycles, cars and vans up to buses. Guy also learns some of the disadvantages from range anxiety and with the help of the Leicestershire Fire Brigade, how to deal with a fire. The ultimate aim is to produce a record breaking electrified retro road car that is suitable for the Drag strip, with Guy behind the steering wheel.

An expedition looks into whether Titanic's hull had a construction design flaw that caused her to break apart. Featuring advanced CGI technology, archive documents and photographs, as well as footage from the modern-day History(R) expeditions, "Titanic's Achilles Heel" is a remarkable journey into the ongoing legacy of a ship that continues to capture the world's attention.

David Jones investigates how 1960s council housing came to be built so poorly that thousands later needed to be demolished.

For more than 120 years, Mohawk ironworkers have raised America’s modern cityscapes. They are called 'sky walkers' because they walk fearlessly atop steel beams just a foot wide, high above the city. In this nuanced portrait of modern Native Americans' double lives, Jerry McDonald Thundercloud and his colleague Sky shuttle between the hard-drinking Brooklyn lodging houses they call home during the week and their rural reservation, a grueling drive six hours north, where a family weekend awaits. While the men are away working, their wives often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of an economically deprived area.

An inside look at the creation of Universal Orlando Resort's new Jurassic World VelociCoaster.

The documentary, Bob Gurr: Turning Dreams into Reality, tells the story of one of Walt Disney's earliest 1954 Imagineering Legends, Bob Gurr. His career spanning 45 years creating 250 projects with Disney and beyond will be explored. From Disneyland to Las Vegas, Olympic spectaculars to rock star shows, Bob's creations included Monorails, Abraham Lincoln mechanical animation, Pirate Battle Shows, even massive animated figures of King Kong and Godzilla. Viewers will learn much about how these attractions were created from those who were there sharing these creations. Eight theme park creators who worked with Bob over these years will describe the unique ways in which he created a vast variety of attractions. The cast includes Disney Ambassador to the World Marty Sklar, Imagineering VP Craig Russell, Imagineer Chris Crump, and many others.

For over three decades, NASA and an international team of scientists and engineers pushed the limits of technology, innovation, and perseverance to build and launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever created. Cosmic Dawn brings audiences behind the scenes with the Webb film crew, and never-before-heard testimonies revealing the real story of how this telescope overcame all odds.

Oravská priehrada

The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea.

Author David Macaulay hosts CATHEDRAL, based on his award-winning book. Using a combination of spectacular location sequences and cinema-quality animation, the program surveys France's most famous churches. Travel back to 1214 to explore the design of Notre Dame de Beaulieu, a representative Gothic cathedral. The program tells period tales revealing fascinating stories of life and death, faith and despair, prosperity, and intrigue.