Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8377 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-19
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 400 minutes

DVD Description
What do the buildings we construct say about us as people? The inimitable Dan Cruickshank travels across the world, celebrating different types of architecture and showing how our buildings reveal our aspirations, our ingenuity and our beliefs.

In each programme, buildings from all over the world are dramatically juxtaposed, in Dan's trademark effusive style, revealing unexpected connections between very different types of architecture.

From the Kizhi Cathedral in remote northwest Russia to the convent of St Catherine in Sinai, Egypt, and themes that range from beauty, to power, paradise and pleasure, this series is a monumental journey that takes in some monumental structures, gradually building an architectural knowledge so that, through the series, a story of world architecture is told.

Synopsis
Dan Cruickshank travels across the world, celebrating different types of architecture and showing how our buildings reveal our aspirations, our ingenuity and our beliefs. In each programme, buildings from all over the world are dramatically juxtaposed, revealing unexpected connections between very different types of architecture.

Customer Reviews

BBC DVD have ruined a classic series
I am a huge fan of Dan Cruikshank and loved watching this series on the TV. I jumped at the chance to buy it on dvd and rewatch it. What a disappointment. On the back of the dvd case a notice reads 'for contractual reasons certain edits have been made.' Usually this means that music has been redubbed or some short scenes have had to be snipped. In this case it means that up to 15 minutes have been cut from some episodes. Gone from the final episode is the segment on Pompeii and other episodes miss some of my favourite settings. Why have they done this? I think it may have something to do with the heavy use of John Williams' music throughout the series in the soundtrack. If this is the case then the soundtrack could be redubbed and the episodes left intact. I will think twice before buying any more dvds produced by 2entertain for the BBC. I haven't seen a hatchet job like this since the early days of VHS.

Missing footage
Like Mr Tobin, I was disappointed to find that much of the original series footage is missing. Eight one-hour episodes have been condensed into about 400 minutes. The DVD case even shows a small photo taken inside the ossuary chamber in the Czech Republic, but the footage for this building has been omitted!

Architecture doesn't get a look in
Having not seen this on TV or heard of Dan I bought the DVD because of my interest in architecture. A mistake! This has nothing to do with architecture. This is about Dan, breathless and wide-eyed visiting locations around the world that illustrate some theme - death, paradise, etc. We do not learn anything about buildings - in some cases there is no building at all at the loaction - but we do learn about rites and customs in a sort of National Geographic sort of way. Though to be fair the National Geographic bods know what they're talking about and Dan comes to this cultural odyssey with an amateur's enthusiasm and superficial knowledge and understanding. We gave up after three episode - wanting never to see Dan or his portentiousness again.