Thanks to host David Macaulay (award-winning author and illustrator of the best-selling The Way Things Work), I know now that "flying buttresses" is not the name of a Monty Python skit involving winged buttocks, but rather important architectural supports that allow huge cathedrals to feature arched naves. In this episode of the 5-part series Building Big (the other titles are Bridges, Tunnels, Dams and Domes; series price: $69.95), viewers get a bird's eye view of the evolution of skyscrapers, from the medieval walled towers in San Gumignano, Italy (where feuding families built ever higher fortresses), to the 20th century height duels between Chicago and New York (today, the largest skyscraper, Petronas Towers, is in Malaysia). Along the way, archival footage, sketches, and interviews are combined to illustrate the technical problems faced by builders in creating ever taller buildings (lighter building materials allowed buildings to grow taller, while also raising new questions about durability during heavy winds). Having recently read Steven Millhauser's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, an instructive fable about a turn of the century Manhattan visionary driven to build ever larger, absurdly all-purpose towering hotels, I found echoes here in the story of the checkered past of the Empire State building (dubbed the "Empty State" building during the Depression) and in the closing comments contrasting humankind's drive to reach the sky with the increasing impracticality of taller skyscrapers. The program concludes with a science project presented by the Zoom kids on building a mini-skyscraper. Sure to be popular, this is recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)
Building Big: Skyscrapers
(2000) 65 min. $19.95. WGBH Boston Video. PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned. ISBN: 1-57807-549-1. Vol. 16, Issue 1
Building Big: Skyscrapers
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.