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Historian and writer Dan Cruickshank explores how humanity has created beauty through architecture, beginning in Greenland where he attempts to build an igloo.

Dan Cruickshank explores how humanity has created beauty through architecture. He travels to Greenland to build an igloo, creating an architectural form that is under threat due to climate change. In China he scales the world's biggest Buddha and deciphers a temple in India rich with erotic images. He visits the Catherine Palace, a hot-blooded baroque masterpiece in the middle of snowy Russia. Finally, he uncovers the dark tale of Albi Cathedral, a building originally designed to suppress the local population but now an object of beauty and wonder.

1 hour

Music Played

  • James Newton Howard

    Blood Diamond: Crossing The Bridge

  • Nick Ingman

    The Stairs

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterDan Cruickshank
Executive ProducerBasil Comely
ProducerJohn Hay
ProducerJohn Mullen
ProducerHelen Nixon

Broadcasts

  • Sat 12 Apr 200802:25
  • Sat 12 Apr 200803:05
  • Tue 4 Aug 200900:00
  • Mon 24 Oct 201623:50
  • Tue 24 Oct 201700:50