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(0)John Mullen
Description
Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how Russia changed from a feudal nation of aristocratic excess to a hotbed of revolution at the beginning of the 20th century, and how art moved from being a servant of the state to an agent of its destruction. From monuments that celebrate the absolutism of the tzars to the epic Russian landscape as inspiration; from the design and construction of gold and glittering palaces to the minutiae of diamond-encrusted Faberge...
2) Paradise
Description
Since the beginning of civilization, humans have paid homage to the spiritual realm by erecting beautiful structures on Earth. In this program, Dan Cruickshank visits Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai desert, built where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments; China's Hanging Temple, a Taoist monastery that clings precariously to the sheer face of a cliff; two 16th-century wooden churches in the Russian wilderness that still serve...
3) Beauty
Description
Dan Cruickshank explores the theme of beauty in architecture in this program, from the beauty of nature's simplicity to that of extreme ornamentation. Dan goes to Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, where he builds an igloo and learns about Inuit culture; Leshan, China, home of the ancient Giant Buddha, the largest of its kind; Russia's Catherine Palace, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture; the Sun Temple in Konarak, India, full of erotic statues that...
4) Pleasure
Description
In this program, Dan Cruickshank considers the aesthetic pleasures of opulent architecture. He goes to the ultra-luxurious Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India, a spectacular fusion of Eastern and Western influences; Bavaria's Neuschwanstein Castle, built as a retreat for King Ludwig II; the Amazon Theatre, an exquisite Belle Époque-era opera house in the middle of the Brazilian rainforest; and the Villa Barbaro in northern Italy, designed by Renaissance...
5) Power
Description
The fantasies of dictators, kings, sultans, and warriors are laid bare in this program as Dan Cruikshank explores architecture as a statement of worldly power. Dan visits Nicolae Ceauescu's palace in Romania, a colossal edifice built by the 20th century's last communist dictator; Marqab Castle in Syria, constructed by the Crusaders to control the area between Asia Minor and the Holy Land; an imposing plantation house in New Orleans that stands in...
Description
This documentary examines the effects of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund loans on the infrastructure Jamaica established in the wake of independence from the UK in 1962. Seven billion in debt (circa 2000), Jamaica has seen its agricultural industries laid to waste by the impossibility of competing with subsidized, multi-national American based companies. The poverty of an "average" Jamaican in a shantytown near Kingston is in stark...