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00:00From coast to coast, America is a nation of man-made marvels, structures that define our
00:09cities and our hometowns.
00:14Art and architecture, arenas and cathedrals reflect our country's innovation and determination.
00:24This is a story of American creativity, of people taking risks and breaking molds.
00:32From familiar icons to obscure monuments, these are places that have altered our nation,
00:40one great idea at a time.
00:54She's been welcoming people to New York since 1886, a steadfast symbol of American
01:23values.
01:26But this man-made marvel got off to a rocky start.
01:30The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French, who offered to pay for the statue
01:36if the U.S. funded her pedestal.
01:41France delivered.
01:43We didn't.
01:44When the statue arrived in 1885, there was no place to put her.
01:49After nearly a year, she sat in crates at this star-shaped fort.
01:56A savvy newspaper magnate named Joseph Pulitzer stepped in with a novel idea, crowdfunding.
02:04In his paper, The World, Pulitzer promised to publish the names of anyone who donated.
02:12125,000 people responded, eager to see their names in print.
02:20In just five months, Pulitzer raised all the money and sold a lot of newspapers.
02:27Thanks to him, the statue now stands on a foundation built by the American people.
02:40New York is a city packed with man-made marvels.
02:44One of the most recent stands in place of the Twin Towers.
02:49One World Trade Center is believed to be the safest skyscraper in the world.
02:57The attacks of September 11th forced cities to rethink architecture.
03:03Over Ground Zero, New York built a structure with blast-resistant walls and a separate
03:09stairway for first responders.
03:12Its design is meant to honor the victims of 9-11 and serve as a beacon for the future.
03:21Manhattan is also home to one of America's best ideas, Central Park.
03:28One of its most visionary aspects is its traffic patterns.
03:34The 750-acre park was designed in 1858, well before the automobile, but landscape architects
03:42Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux planned for foot traffic and carriage traffic.
03:48Today, their design lets cars cut through the park without disturbing its serenity.
04:00Though Central Park seems natural, Vaux and Olmsted engineered every acre.
04:06They filled swamps, planted trees, and created lakes.
04:12This landscape was so popular, every major city followed suit, and America's public parks
04:19were born.
04:24Twenty blocks away from the park, an American icon stands out from the crowd.
04:31The Chrysler Building is famous for its arches and ornamentation, but the real genius here
04:38may be the spire.
04:42In 1929, auto mogul Walter Chrysler wanted to build the world's tallest building.
04:51He faced fierce competition from a builder nearby.
04:56Chrysler's architect, William Van Allen, came up with a secret plan.
05:01He had the spire delivered in pieces, then reassembled in the elevator shaft.
05:07At the last minute, his team pushed it up, and Chrysler won.
05:17Today, these vanity spires are still used in the ongoing quest to build higher than
05:24the competition.
05:29Man-made marvels have changed our cities and our commutes.
05:36New Jersey's Holland Tunnel shepherds 34 million drivers under the Hudson River between New
05:42York and Jersey City each year.
05:47Civic planners began building it in 1920 to deal with the increased use of the automobile.
05:54But car tunnels were new then, and brought an unprecedented problem—deadly fumes.
06:03Civil engineer Ole Singstad devised an elegant solution—a ventilation system housed in
06:09four buildings.
06:12Each one contains 84 massive fans, which change the tunnel's air every 90 seconds.
06:22Singstad's design was later used here, in the Lincoln Tunnel, and in nearly every auto
06:27tunnel since.
06:32Jersey has a way of breaking new ground, especially on the shores of Atlantic City.
06:39In the 1920s, this town revolved around its boardwalk—a hotspot for parties, drinking,
06:45and gambling.
06:46But this man-made marvel was built for practicality.
06:53Tourists began riding the rails to Atlantic City in the 1850s.
06:58Then they strolled the wide beaches before heading back to trains or hotels.
07:04And wherever they went, they tracked in sand—perpetually frustrating business owners.
07:10Finally, in 1870, two local men suggested a solution—a boardwalk from the beach to
07:17town.
07:20The city built it that same year.
07:24In the coming decades, Atlantic City became America's playground, and its famed boardwalk
07:30was copied by seaside towns everywhere.
07:37The East Coast is also home to one of our most cherished landscapes—the National Mall
07:42in Washington, D.C.
07:45We think of it as a unified whole, as old as the nation itself.
07:51But this land has been evolving for 200 years, thanks to headstrong engineers and forward-thinking
07:57architects.
08:00The nation's iconic tribute to our first president was actually an eyesore for 24 years.
08:08The government abandoned the Washington Monument in 1854, first because of money problems,
08:14then the Civil War.
08:17It sat untouched until 1876, when a no-nonsense engineer named Thomas Lincoln Casey took charge.
08:28He cast aside the first highly ornate design and built what he envisioned—a simple obelisk.
08:35Today, the spot where he resumed construction is still faintly visible, marked by a different
08:43kind of marble.
08:46Casey continued with the original building technique, in which the blocks are freestanding,
08:51like a Jenga tower.
08:53The mortar in between is for weatherstripping, not support.
08:58When he finished, in 1884, the monument was the tallest building in the world.
09:05Today, it's one of the tallest in Washington.
09:12At the far end of the Mall, near the Potomac River, is the Lincoln Memorial.
09:18In the early 1900s, its engineers faced an unusual problem.
09:22They had to build the monument on the loose soil of a landfill.
09:29Their solution?
09:30An underground support system, like the ones used for bridges, to bear the structure's
09:36weight.
09:37The maze-like cavern below the monument is the size of a football field.
09:45For years, the Park Service gave tours of the basement, but stopped in 1989 for safety
09:51reasons.
09:56One of Washington's most powerful man-made marvels was designed by a woman.
10:02The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the work of Chinese-American architect Maya Lin.
10:09Her anonymous design won a nationwide competition in 1981, when she was just 21.
10:16Afterwards, she faced hostility over everything from her design to her ethnicity.
10:24Lin stood by her idea, fighting off waves of changes.
10:31She wanted the memorial to be a place of reflection.
10:35In her words, creating two worlds, one we are a part of, and one we cannot enter.
10:41When the monument opened in 1982, much of Lin's original vision remained.
10:50It has since become a gathering place and a healing ground, just as Lin had hoped.
11:02America's man-made marvels tend to have ripple effects in the U.S. and around the world.
11:11Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper.
11:14The first one went up here in 1884.
11:19It's also where the skyscraper was reinvented.
11:23In the 1960s, architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fosler Kahn began drafting plans for the John
11:29Hancock Building.
11:32The men worked for the legendary Chicago firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and wanted
11:37to build skyscrapers with more interior space.
11:42Instead of using a traditional steel skeleton with bulky internal supports, they created
11:47what's called a steel tube.
11:52With it, they could put the support on the perimeter, then reinforce it with an exoskeleton,
11:58those signature X's on the outside.
12:06The concept revolutionized architecture and led to the construction of Chicago's crown
12:13jewel, the Willis Building.
12:18Formerly the Sears Tower, it consists of nine staggered steel tubes.
12:24Graham famously explained the concept by tapping out cigarettes to show how the columns would
12:29support one another.
12:32When the building was finished in 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in the world, a
12:41title it held for 24 years.
12:46The tube concept is still used by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, which continues to build
12:51the tallest buildings on earth.
13:01Chicagoans like pushing the limits of man-made marvels in the sky and on the ground.
13:08Pittsburgh Pavilion is the centerpiece of Millennium Park, which opened in 2004.
13:15World-famous architect Frank Gehry designed the structure, connecting sweeping steel ribbons
13:22to a massive trellis.
13:24The criss-crossing pipes support an innovative design.
13:27They hold speakers which mimic the acoustics of a concert hall, making every seat in the
13:33house a good one.
13:37Next to the pavilion is a modern work of art that's become a Chicago landmark.
13:43This sculpture, called Cloud Gate, was inspired by a drop of mercury.
13:48The artist used 168 pieces of stainless steel to reflect the sky, the city, and visitors.
13:58Locals now affectionately call it the beam.
14:07Nearby, at the University of Chicago, students nicknamed one of their man-made marvels,
14:12the egg.
14:14This is Mansueto Library, though it doesn't seem like a library at all.
14:20Architect Helmut Jahn wanted to create an airy reading room that flowed with the green
14:24space.
14:26All the books are stored in a high-tech underground facility, so students in the dome can have
14:31unobstructed views.
14:36In Illinois, works of art are in the state's biggest cities and sprinkled in its countryside.
14:44The Eternal Indian stands in Loden State Park, two hours west of Chicago.
14:53It's the work of artist Laredo Taft, whose sculptures graced many major cities.
15:00Taft founded an artist's colony here in 1898.
15:05One year, his friends stood with their arms crossed, gazing at the Rock River below.
15:12Their poses reminded Taft of the state's native tribes and inspired this work.
15:19A century later, it's still the nation's largest concrete monolith and a beloved Illinois landmark.
15:31Across the country, in Washington State, is a modern-day marvel, but this structure
15:37in downtown Seattle often leaves visitors scratching their heads.
15:42The Experience Music Project, or EMP, is a rock-and-roll museum created by architect
15:49Frank Gehry.
15:50It was the pet project of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who wanted a place to display
15:56his extensive rock-and-roll collection.
15:59Allen commissioned Gehry, who came up with the design, by slicing up guitars.
16:05His radical plan involved no straight surfaces.
16:10Builders turned to computer modeling, the same kind used by the aerospace industry,
16:15to draft and execute the design.
16:18Despite the engineering, EMP has gotten harsh reviews.
16:23In 2002, Forbes called it one of America's ten ugliest buildings.
16:30Gehry's creation sits in the shadow of Seattle's best-known landmark.
16:35The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair during the Cold War.
16:41The U.S. wanted to prove its prowess for the 21st century and needed a blockbuster centerpiece.
16:50The top was built like a UFO, inspired by an alleged sighting at nearby Mount Rainier.
17:01The building debuted with space-age features, high-speed elevators, a rotating restaurant,
17:08and cordless phones at every table.
17:13The structure was so futuristic, it inspired the home of The Jetsons, a cartoon that premiered
17:19the same year as the Space Needle.
17:29In the nearby state of Utah, an annual event seems better suited to science fiction.
17:38Speed Week is a summer tradition held in northern Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.
17:45Engineers have been setting records here since the early 1900s, when some daredevils
17:50realized the flats were drivable.
17:56The cars speed along a dried-up, prehistoric lake, an ideal place for long, wide racetracks.
18:12Entrants build these finely-tuned machines themselves, following strict standards.
18:19Bonneville is their chance to shine, as they compete in a variety of classes, from motorcycles
18:26to roadsters to streamliners.
18:29The record here is 600 miles an hour.
18:37Race enthusiasts flock to Bonneville, but most people know Utah for its Great Salt Lake
18:42and the state capital that grew on its shores.
18:48Salt Lake City revolves around Temple Square and the Salt Lake Temple.
18:55Brigham Young chose its location himself in 1847, four days after arriving here.
19:03After facing persecution in the Midwest, the Mormons designed this church like a fortress,
19:09with walls six feet thick.
19:13Construction took 40 years, but Young ultimately built the largest Mormon church in the country.
19:22Next door is the Tabernacle, home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
19:29Today, aluminum tiles cover its standout dome, famous for its acoustics.
19:39Pioneer Henry Grove built it in 1857 with no internal supports.
19:47More than 150 years later, his design is still heralded as an engineering masterpiece.
19:58Unmade marvels are the building blocks of our cities and sometimes even their playgrounds.
20:05The Indianapolis Art Museum is home to an art park known as 100 Acres.
20:12Museum curators strove to make nature the main focus here and fold the artwork into it.
20:18This work, called Funky Bones, is designed for climbing or resting.
20:24Free Basket is a playground inspired by the trajectory of a bouncing ball.
20:31And this white speck is Indy Island.
20:36It's actually a tiny house, 20 feet wide and equipped with only running water.
20:44Two artists can apply to live here for the summer to put their own mark on this unique park.
20:55Indianapolis is also home to one of America's most popular marvels, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
21:03This high-tech racetrack is the biggest sporting venue in the world and birthplace of the Indy 500.
21:12250,000 people flock here each Memorial Day to cheer on their favorite drivers.
21:20They fly around this track at speeds of more than 230 miles an hour.
21:29The push to make Indy cars faster and safer has led to innovations in all of our cars.
21:36In 1911, the Indy's first year, mechanics often rode with the drivers to warn them if opponents were gaining.
21:45Driver Ray Haroon wanted to shed the weight and had the world's first rear-view mirror installed.
21:52He won, and drivers have been using them ever since.
21:59Indiana is full of surprising man-made marvels, both in its state capital and 50 miles southeast of it.
22:09This unique cable bridge is in Columbus, Indiana, a small town built by big names.
22:17In the 1940s, Columbus was in a state of decay.
22:22Local businessman J. Irwin Miller, head of Cummins Engines, believed his community deserved better.
22:30He began spearheading funding for the biggest names in architecture.
22:35The first structure was this modernist church in 1942, designed by famed architect Eliel Saarinen.
22:47In the 1960s, Saarinen's son designed another groundbreaking church, while also working on the St. Louis Arch.
22:57The 70s brought a stylish telephone switching station with artsy pipes for heating and air conditioning.
23:06This sleek city hall debuted in 1981, designed by the firms Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, after they built the Sears Tower.
23:18In all, 70 modernist buildings graced this town of 45,000, making it one of America's most important architectural cities.
23:30Nearly 400 miles away, architecture helped revitalize a much bigger city in Pennsylvania.
23:38This is PPG Place, headquarters of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Industries.
23:45It was designed in the early 80s by influential architects Philip Johnson and John Burgi.
23:52At the time, Pittsburgh was trying to rejuvenate its downtown.
23:57PPG, with its reflective glass exterior, was one of eight skyscrapers that went up.
24:06The building became an icon, bringing urban renewal that ultimately reshaped the city.
24:14Every town has its own style, but few are as over-the-top as a summer getaway on the shores of Newport, Rhode Island.
24:27In the late 19th century, it was the playground of the ultra-rich.
24:33They built cottages overlooking the ocean for the ten-week summer season.
24:38The most lavish parties of the Gilded Age were held here, at Rose Cliff.
24:43It was built in 1902 by gold and silver heiress Tessie Ulrichs.
24:49She sought to rule Newport society and had the mansion built around what would become the biggest ballroom in town.
25:00Tessie once brought in Harry Houdini to entertain dinner guests.
25:05Her other parties featured ballets, an opera, and even a circus.
25:13But she had a hard time keeping up with the Joneses, considering her neighbors were heirs to the Vanderbilt fortune.
25:22This is The Breakers, built by railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
25:28Inside are seventy rooms, thirty-three of which were devoted to the help.
25:34The architect was Richard Morris Hunt, who also created the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty
25:40and the exterior of the New York Metropolitan Opera House.
25:46Hunt's handiwork was popular with the Vanderbilts.
25:49Cornelius' brother asked Hunt to design an even bigger getaway.
25:53In the hills of Asheville, North Carolina.
25:59The Biltmore was George Vanderbilt's country retreat and remains the biggest home ever built in America.
26:07In 1888, Vanderbilt visited the Blue Ridge Mountains and fell in love with the climate and scenery.
26:14The next year, he began building this 250-room home on a portion of his 125,000 acres.
26:24For the grounds, he turned to none other than Frederick Olmstead,
26:28who worked on the Biltmore between Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds.
26:34Inside, Vanderbilt was a man of many talents.
26:38He worked on the Biltmore between Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds.
26:44Inside, Vanderbilt showcased his vast art and antique collection, which remains intact.
26:54The Biltmore became an inn in 2001 and is still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants.
27:01In the 19th century, architecture often stood out in America.
27:08Today, it increasingly blends in.
27:16And one of the best examples of that is in Colorado's Glenwood Canyon.
27:21In the 1960s, the government proposed building a road here, so I-70 could link Colorado to Utah.
27:31Environmentalists blocked it, saying a road would destroy the fragile canyon and its wildlife.
27:41The project stalled for 20 years, and now, it has been restored.
27:47The project stalled for 20 years, until an agreement was reached to minimize impact.
27:56Engineers designed a 16-mile road that would follow the natural shape of the canyon,
28:02reducing the road's footprint and preserving the area's natural beauty.
28:07It was finished in 1992 and has been praised as one of the greatest feats in modern engineering.
28:23Nestled in Colorado Springs is a man-made marvel with a remarkable history.
28:29The U.S. Air Force Academy was built in the 1950s, when the Air Force was first established.
28:36At its core is this all-faiths chapel, designed by Walter Netsch.
28:43Netsch was the lead architect for the campus and pushed to break from the traditional military mold.
28:50At the time, he was the head of the U.S. Air Force Academy,
28:56At the time, his cutting-edge design stirred national debate and infuriated Congress.
29:06Today, it's considered one of America's finest examples of modern architecture.
29:15A plane ride over Colorado inspired one of Denver's newest structures, an edgy addition to the Denver Art Museum.
29:23This modern wing opened in 2006, designed by renowned architect Daniel Liebeskind.
29:31It's covered in 9,000 titanium panels and looks different from every angle.
29:39On the roof, skylights capitalize on the Colorado sunshine, which hits walls inside at unusual angles.
29:48Outside, visitors walk by the Big Suite, by Klaus Oldenburg and Kushi Van Bruggen, artists famous for building big.
30:00The husband-and-wife team was also behind this iconic piece in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
30:07Spoonbridge and Cherry is on display at the Walker Art Museum.
30:13The artists are known for turning everyday objects into whimsical sculptures.
30:21Their pieces now sit outside major museums around the world.
30:29Two hours north of Minneapolis is one of the most unique structures in the country.
30:35The Aerial Lift Bridge towers over Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota.
30:40Built in 1905, this man-made marvel is one of the few remaining bridges of its kind.
30:49When ships approach this canal, the lower section rises like an elevator, allowing vessels to sail underneath.
30:58This 100-year-old marvel still captures people's imaginations.
31:04Recently, a young boy asked to ride up the bridge through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
31:10His favorite part was blowing the whistle and making the girls below jump.
31:18But America's man-made marvels aren't limited to the lower 48.
31:23Some of the country's boldest engineering is in southern Alaska, near the port of Skagway.
31:30In 1897, gold prospectors came here, bound for a Canadian region called the Klondike, where men had gotten rich.
31:41To get there, they faced White Pass, a steep and deadly trail that was just part of the full 600-mile trek.
31:50Railroad men were eager to cash in, too, and began building the Yukon and White Pass Railway in 1898.
32:00For two years, workers laid 110 miles of track, building bridges like this now-abandoned one.
32:12But by the time the trains began running, the gold was gone.
32:18Today, the historic railway still carries adventurers north, eager to explore this last frontier.
32:31Every city has its landmarks, but few stand out more than the Gateway to the West.
32:39Every city has its landmarks, but few stand out more than the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
32:48This man-made marvel is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, dedicated to St. Louis' role in America's push west.
32:57This Mississippi River town was once the last major hub before the Louisiana Purchase.
33:03Many predicted it would rival New York and London.
33:09The city designated the riverfront land as a memorial in 1935, but the arch itself wasn't part of the plan until 1948.
33:19That year, St. Louis held a design contest, and famed architect Eero Saarinen won.
33:26The idea for the arch was one thing. Building it was quite another.
33:32Engineers began with the legs, and prayed they'd meet in the middle.
33:40Next, they struggled with how to get people up into the arch.
33:46Saarinen turned to a second-generation elevator man named Dick Bowser.
33:50He devised a tram system, which pivots along the arch, so passengers can sit upright all the way to the top.
33:5925 years later, Bowser's trams are still running, delivering knockout views of this gateway city.
34:07Across Missouri's lush farmland, on the opposite side of the state, is Kansas City.
34:15Kansas City is home to the state's largest state farm.
34:22Kansas City is home to the state's largest state farm.
34:26Kansas City is home to the state's largest state farm.
34:29Across Missouri's lush farmland, on the opposite side of the state, is Kansas City.
34:37It's home to a national treasure, the country's official memorial to World War I.
34:46It's in Kansas City because, after the war, local residents were passionate about honoring the dead, and raised the funds almost immediately.
34:56Sculptor Robert Aiken created the four figures at the top as protectors of peace.
35:04He later sculpted the famous pediment above the Supreme Court.
35:08In the 90s, the memorial was in a state of decay, so local citizens rallied again.
35:15They raised $102 million to renovate and expand the historic structure.
35:21Today, it contains one of the largest collections of World War I artifacts.
35:31Citizens often play a key role in protecting man-made marvels, both in the Midwest and the South.
35:40Nashville, Tennessee, is the unlikely home of the Greek Parthenon.
35:45It's an exact replica created in 1897 for the city's centennial.
35:51Back then, Nashville was called the Athens of the South for its focus on higher education.
35:58After the centennial, the Parthenon was supposed to be torn down, but residents lobbied to keep it.
36:06In 1920, permanent fixtures replaced temporary ones.
36:10A decade later, the building became what it is today, the city's art museum.
36:18But Nashville is best known for its music, celebrated here at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
36:25This sprawling complex debuted in 2001 and is full of cymbals.
36:31Its black piano keys are actually windows.
36:34On the left, the circular structure represents LPs and CDs.
36:39Above them, the tower honors local radio station WSM, which began broadcasting country music back in 1925.
36:56Northern Ohio is home to a building with a very different vibe.
37:00The Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was designed by I.M. Pei.
37:06As early as the 50s, Cleveland was called the Rock and Roll Capital, later debuting talent like David Bowie and Rush.
37:14A local DJ even coined the term rock and roll.
37:18But I.M. Pei wasn't a rock fan.
37:22Museum sponsors had to give him a crash course on the topic.
37:25The tower and pyramid are meant to evoke a guitar neck, while the circular plaza resembles a record on a turntable.
37:36Since Pei's design, there's been a flurry of new architecture in Cleveland.
37:41This cubist building houses the Museum of Contemporary Art,
37:46while this wave-like design by Frank Gehry sits on the campus of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
37:52Man-made marvels can transform our cities, and also connect them.
37:58The John A. Roebling Bridge stretches over the Ohio River in Cincinnati.
38:04It's named for its creator, a man who revolutionized the use of cables.
38:11In the 1830s, Roebling was frustrated by the lack of electricity.
38:16His innovations led to this bridge in 1867.
38:21At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and one of the sturdiest.
38:28Before Roebling, these kinds of bridges tended to collapse.
38:33But in the 1860s, Roebling built a new bridge.
38:38It was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and one of the sturdiest.
38:44His company transformed bridge building, and went on to design the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883.
38:52Fifty years later, they turned to a project on the West Coast.
38:57Roebling's sons took on an engineering feat in San Francisco, one many said was impossible.
39:04The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the greatest symbols of American ingenuity,
39:09and one of its key components is its cables.
39:15For the project, John Roebling's company produced the largest bridge cables ever made,
39:21long enough to circle the globe three times.
39:27They're just one piece of this puzzle, which one writer calls a giant moving math problem.
39:33In the 1920s, mathematician Charles Ellis did the complex calculations for the bridge,
39:39creating ten volumes of work.
39:43But for decades, he was overlooked because of bridge creator John Strauss.
39:49Strauss, who wanted all the credit for himself, fired Ellis and removed his name from all bridge documents.
39:56Ellis wasn't happy.
39:58Strauss fired Ellis and removed his name from all bridge documents.
40:02Ellis wasn't formally recognized until 2012.
40:18In Southern California, man-made marvels often soar overhead in the clear skies above Los Angeles Valley.
40:29This was once the proving ground for flying wings.
40:36They were the life's work of engineer Jack Northrup, whose company built this plane in 1944.
40:47He dreamed of reducing an aircraft's drag by eliminating the fuselage and tail.
40:53For more than two decades, he worked feverishly on the design for the government.
40:58But officials abandoned it because of the cost.
41:02Northrup was devastated.
41:08But 40 years later, his vision was realized.
41:12The Air Force used his flying wing design to build a new generation of planes called the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
41:29In the neighboring state of Nevada, up the wild Colorado River, is one of the country's most awe-inspiring structures, the Hoover Dam.
41:40A team of brilliant minds designed it to tame the river.
41:44But the backbone of the project was its workers.
41:48In 1931, during the Great Depression, 5,000 men began working on the dam, desperate for a paycheck.
41:58First came the most dangerous task, the tunnels that would divert the river.
42:04Men blasted three-quarters of a mile through canyon walls, at constant risk of cave-ins.
42:12Next came the dam itself.
42:14High scalers dangled at 800 feet, carrying dynamite and jackhammers to prep the canyon walls.
42:22They used homemade helmets and regular rope.
42:26After two years and 65 deaths, workers poured the first bucket of concrete,
42:33arduously constructing the interlocking columns that would make up the dam's face.
42:39At the same time, men were building these intake towers,
42:4333-story structures that would deliver water to the dam's internal power plants.
42:50When they finished, in 1935, Lake Mead began to form,
42:54and soon became the largest water reservoir in the United States.
42:58In five years, a haphazard group of men had become a finely-tuned workforce,
43:04and the dam they created would power the American West for decades to come.
43:12One of America's most remarkable structures is 1,000 miles off the coast of California.
43:19It's the largest dam in the United States.
43:23One of America's most remarkable structures is 1,000 miles off the mainland,
43:29in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
43:33The island's northern foothills are home to the Arecibo Observatory, run by Cornell University.
43:42It's the largest single radio telescope in the world, used to study outer space.
43:53The massive bowl is the antenna, which covers 20 acres and consists of 40,000 aluminum panels.
44:05The fittings high above move to detect radio waves from heavenly bodies.
44:13This powerful tool has led to remarkable discoveries.
44:17With it, scientists found the first planets outside our solar system, and even mapped the surface of Venus.
44:31Nearly 2,000 miles away from Puerto Rico is a very different man-made marvel.
44:37In Ann Arbor, Michigan, a legendary stadium has paved the way for football fans everywhere.
44:43This is the University of Michigan Stadium, a structure that helped make football a spectator sport.
44:51It was built in the 1920s, when the game was in its infancy.
44:56The NFL was forming at the same time.
45:01Many colleges opposed the new pastime, saying it made students hysterical.
45:06But Michigan coach Felding Yost believed football was here to stay.
45:12He insisted on a stadium with 72,000 seats, with ample room to grow.
45:19In the coming years, football expanded.
45:23Along with his stadium, 107,000 people now pack the stands, gathered around the stadium.
45:30Across Lake Michigan, in neighboring Wisconsin, is a museum that was built to reflect its surroundings.
45:37The Milwaukee Art Museum is the work of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
45:46He designed the museum's exterior.
45:49He designed the museum's exterior.
45:52He designed the museum's interior.
45:55He designed the museum's interior.
45:58He designed it like a ship, to showcase the city's personality.
46:04From its lakeside location, to its ever-changing weather.
46:08The museum's main feature is its curved roof, which moves to let light in.
46:15Here, it's open, but at night, the sides fold down, like butterfly wings.
46:21A feature that's been praised by architects and engineers alike.
46:27A feature that's been praised by architects and engineers alike.
46:33Two hours west of Milwaukee, in southern Wisconsin, is an American masterpiece.
46:39Taliesin was the summer home of Frank Lloyd Wright.
46:43He began building it in 1911, when he was 44.
46:49But Wright had a long history with this land.
46:52As a boy, he played here, on a farm that had been in his family for generations.
46:59That early connection with nature shaped his future work.
47:04Prairie-style architecture that harmonizes with the landscape.
47:14For 40 years, Taliesin was Wright's laboratory.
47:18A place where he percolated on new ideas, and tested them.
47:25Today, it's a farm and a school, for the next generation of architects.
47:33One of Frank Lloyd Wright's lesser-known works is in the plains of Oklahoma, in the small town of Bartlesville.
47:41Price Tower is the only skyscraper Wright ever built.
47:45Businessman Hal Price commissioned it in the 1950s.
47:49Price was an oil pipeline baron, and wanted new office space.
47:56He envisioned a three-story building, but Wright pushed for ten.
48:01They agreed on 19 stories.
48:07The tower fulfilled a lifelong dream for Wright,
48:10whose plans to build New York skyscrapers were thwarted.
48:14Ultimately, at the age of 89, he built a skyscraper on his terms.
48:20In a city where it would always stand out.
48:26But of all the country's innovators, one is known as the father of American architecture.
48:32Thomas Jefferson.
48:34Here, in Charlottesville, Virginia, he created a new state of the art.
48:39Here, in Charlottesville, Virginia, he created a new style, one that was distinctly American.
48:47Jefferson began building Monticello as a young man.
48:51At first, he relied on books, and designed a two-story home with Greek and Roman influences.
48:57Later, after seeing architecture in France, he tore the second story off.
49:03Over 40 years, Monticello became a combination of styles, given a unique look with local materials.
49:15Ultimately, he created a new kind of home, for a new kind of country.
49:24Towards the end of his life, Jefferson turned to another project, the nearby University of Virginia.
49:31He designed the campus as an American village, surrounding a central lawn.
49:38Students and faculty lived around it, to encourage democratic exchange.
49:46Jefferson's focal point was the Rotunda, then the campus library.
49:52To him, these weren't just structures.
49:54They were a means of shaping American taste.
50:00Before he died, Jefferson listed the university as one of his proudest achievements.
50:12From the country's earliest buildings, to its most contemporary ones, man-made marvels have altered our landscapes.
50:20And sometimes, even our lives.
50:26The desire to be bigger, safer, or just different has sparked engineering breakthroughs and artistic strokes of genius.
50:37Visionary men and women have changed the way we live, work, and play.
50:42Our structures are symbols of our creativity, giving us glimpses of our changing ideas and providing building blocks for our future.