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Dan Cruickshank explores buildings shaped and threatened by disaster. He visits the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan and sees how San Francisco is preparing for an earthquake.

Historian and writer Dan Cruickshank celebrates the creative force of architecture as he explores the world's greatest cities, buildings and monuments.

Some of the world's greatest architecture has been forged in the face of adversity, terror and war. Dan explores buildings shaped and threatened by disaster.

He risks his life to visit the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, a monument to peace and tolerance in the midst of a war zone. He goes to Dresden, the great German baroque city that was almost obliterated during World War II, but where a heroic reconstruction project is taking place. San Francisco is preparing for a cataclysmic earthquake - what role can architecture play in saving lives? And venturing into ancient history, Dan reveals the tragic tale of Palmyra in Syria, a great city laid to waste by the Roman Empire.

1 hour

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Dan Cruickshank
Executive Producer Basil Comely

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