Plot Synopsis

IF WE BUILT IT TODAY features architects, historians, engineers, and builders who discuss whether or not we could use modern day innovations to recreate iconic masterpieces like The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colosseum, the Great Wall of China, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and more. They are some of the world's all-time greatest building projects. Most have stood the test of time, but with today's technology, could they be duplicated and done better? What would it take to build these remarkable super structures today? How long would it take? How much would it cost? How many workers would we need? In our modern era of glass and steel, could we even pull it off? The answers to these questions and more are explored. The series opener, "Secrets in the Pyramid," travels to Cairo explore the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is more than 40 stories high and the width of 10 football fields. The 200 levels of stone weigh more than six million tons, with each individual block the size of an SUV. Nothing in the world compares to it. The city of Memphis, Tennessee tried to recreate its own Pyramid in 1991, but immediately had issues with flooding and closed its doors in 2004. Clever engineers eventually embraced its watery past and reopened the building in 2015, featuring an aquarium on its bottom floor.

Season 2 of IF WE BUILT IT TODAY premiered on Sunday, January 24, 2021 from 8-10pm ET/PT on Science Channel. In the two-hour season opener, "Washington, DC Reborn," experts -- with the help of architectural experts and urban planners and developers -- use modern engineering and the latest technology to create a 21st century blueprint for a reimagined Washington, DC. As the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Memorial approaches, and with an election year that directed all attention to Washington, this two-hour episode explores what the future holds for the landmark-packed capital of the United States - and how its iconic collection of buildings and monuments act as the symbolic heart of a nation. Detailing the early plans for Washington DC and taking cues from evolving capital city plans from Ancient Egypt and Europe, experts survey what the capital might look like if we built it today. Also this season, Hoover Dam is reimagined as an eco-friendly undertaking utilizing perpetual motion and solar power; the Titanic is rebuilt as it was imagined to be -- the unsinkable ship; Stonehenge is constructed in a world where the advantages made possible by digital technology exist at our fingertips; Carnegie Hall, built in 1890, remains the crown jewel of concert halls with its incomparable acoustics and masterful construction; The Parthenon, one of the most beautiful structures globally, is also one of the most important surviving buildings of ancient Greece; and more.
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On Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 9pm ET/PT, Science Channel premiered "Secrets of Stonehenge," the Season 2 finale of IF WE BUILT IT TODAY. Stonehenge is an astonishing achievement of ancient construction that continues to baffle engineers thousands of years later; now, experts use the latest science to discover the logistics behind erecting another legendary monument today.