Construction
134 episodes
#6077: Jerusalem's Shuk Is Getting 10 New Towers
The stalls stay put. Everything around them is going up — and a lot of it is going down seven floors first.
#6017: Israel's 319-Day Permit: Why Building Takes a Year
Israel averages 319 days to a building permit — nearly 3x the Western average. Where does the year actually go?
#5993: Why Every Renovation Show Looks the Same
Shiplap, white quartz, open plan — why does every renovation show produce the identical room, and who's really choosing it?
#5934: Why Modiin Is Ugly Despite Its Form-Based Code
Modiin had a form-based code and still came out ugly. The reason sits in what the code refused to regulate: facades, windows, materials.
#5896: Modiin, Safdie, and the Suburb That Was Meant to Be a City
Moshe Safdie designed Modiin to be a real city. Thirty-seven years later, residents say there's nowhere to go at night.
#5888: Where Does the Rain Actually Go?
An inch of rain on one acre of pavement is 27,000 gallons. Cities have three ways to get rid of it — and all of them fail on purpose.
#5883: What Happens to Water Between the Plant and Your Tap
Utilities push 100 litres of treated water into the pipes. How much actually arrives? The answer is messier — and more interesting — than one number.
#5822: Building Herod's Wall, One Course at a Time
How 300-tonne limestone blocks became a 488-metre retaining wall — without anyone ever lifting them to the top.
#5779: Tunnel Girl Dug 80 Feet Under Her House
No engineering degree, two books, and ten dead jackhammers. How one woman dug an 80-foot tunnel under her Virginia house — and got it permitted.
#5767: Inside Private Grids That Run Themselves
From hospital CHP plants to remote mines, private grids already run like miniature utilities. Here's where the fence line sits.
#5633: Is Construction Noise Actually Inevitable?
What if the jackhammer isn't the problem? A look at how deep garages, tall towers, and concrete make cities loud.
#5632: Why Cities Keep Digging Expensive Parking Holes
Parking minimums bury money underground — and shape the towers above. What Jerusalem's luxury towers reveal about rules nobody chose.
#5613: Seven Stories Down, Building Stays Up
A historic Jerusalem house is staying put while a seven-story car park is carved out beneath it. Here's how top-down excavation actually works.
#5596: What Victorian Diggers Could Teach Jerusalem's Cranes
London, Paris, and New York dug their first subways at a human cost we'd never accept today. Did we trade that chaos for something better — or just...
#5595: Roman Roads Still Running Under Modern Cities
The Aqua Virgo still pours into the Trevi Fountain. The Cloaca Maxima still drains central Rome. What keeps ancient infrastructure alive?
#5575: Why 1930s Riveters Carried Bigger Pouches Than You Do
A catcher's mitt made of metal, a red-hot rivet you can't look at, and the 90-year-old tool list that never changed.
#5439: Life at 76 Degrees North: Inside Pituffik Space Base
A few hundred people, four months of darkness, and a $100M-a-year mission on thawing permafrost.
#5344: Ironworking: From Rivet Gangs to Rebar Crews
Ironworking is older than the skyscraper it built. Rivet gangs, Mohawk crews, and why Israel's cranes hide the trade.
#5332: The Real Story Behind Lunch Atop a Skyscraper
That famous photo wasn't the Empire State Building, wasn't a candid moment, and the "fearless Mohawk" legend is false. Here's what really happened.
#5331: Steeplejacks, Linemen, and Tower Climbers
Three jobs that look like pure nerve — steeplejacks, helicopter linemen, tower climbers — and what they're actually doing up there.
#5325: Selfie Sticks vs Drone Law: The 10-Meter Limit
A camera on a 10-meter pole isn't a drone — legally. But physics, power lines, wind, and police discretion all push back.
#5275: Reading a Supplier in 20 Minutes
How does a two-person firm vet a supplier without a procurement team? Walk in, watch the workshop, read the room.
#5271: 10 Transit Ideas That Never Left the Drawing Board
From the Hyperloop to the Sinclair C5, why do beautiful transit renderings never survive contact with the invoice?
#5194: Designing Buildings to Age Beautifully
Copper turns green, lime plaster hardens, concrete just stains. What if architects designed for year 100 instead of day one?