Modern Marvels

Season 10, Episode 68

Episode Title: Inviting Disaster 4, Building Failures

Air Date: 2003-11-04

Overview:

Based on the popular book, this episode explores historical building collapses–from ancient pyramids to the Cathedral at Beauvais to Kansas City’s Hyatt Regency–and demonstrates that clear warning signs often existed, but were ignored. We also examine the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York. Author Jim Chiles believes that designers and engineers must better prepare for all potential disasters–by understanding existing risks, they can prepare for the unknown, like terrorism.