0:00:00 > 0:00:04That is the 180-foot-high aluminium cliff
0:00:04 > 0:00:09that is the pinnacle of the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15But how did the brutality, the misery of war lead to such an inspiring, radical building?
0:00:18 > 0:00:23This is Climbing Great Buildings and throughout this series I will be scaling our most iconic
0:00:23 > 0:00:27and best-loved structures from the Normans to the present day.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I will be revealing the buildings' secrets and telling the story of how
0:00:30 > 0:00:36British architecture and construction developed over 1,000 years.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50The Imperial War Museum North lies in Trafford on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55Designed by a controversial architect, Daniel Libeskind, it's one of five museums across
0:00:55 > 0:01:02the country dedicated to enabling people to understand modern warfare and its impact on society.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Construction on the museum began in January 2000.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07It took just about two years to finish it.
0:01:07 > 0:01:14So it's very much a building which paves the way for the 21st Century and its attitudes to architecture.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17In a way, it's like Durham Cathedral 1,000 years earlier in
0:01:17 > 0:01:20pushing the boundaries of available technology.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23But whereas Durham looked back to the achievements of Romans and
0:01:23 > 0:01:28hoped to match their solid grandeur, this does something quite different.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30It tears up the rule book of history.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34The first building we have seen that fully does that.
0:01:34 > 0:01:41Instead, it looks to create something very distinctive and forward-looking.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46In order to tell the story behind the museum's construction
0:01:46 > 0:01:51I have been given unprecedented access to this 21st century masterpiece.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56I will explore how a broken piece of pottery led to the creation of this wonderful memorial to war.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59There are going to be kids across Britain now smashing tea pots and
0:01:59 > 0:02:03saying, "Mum, look what I've done - deconstructed it for you!"
0:02:03 > 0:02:08I'll reveal why this award-winning museum's greatest attraction is these simple white walls.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Watch this.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14And I'll scale 180 feet to show how architecture has
0:02:14 > 0:02:19been used to replicate the cruel and unrelenting nature of war.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22This shard, with its brokenness, its half inside, half out,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26gives a sense of the pretty brutal nature of war.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28But I won't be going it alone.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33Joining me on my imperial adventure is a major star in the world of climbing - Lucy Creamer.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34Hello!
0:02:34 > 0:02:39Along with her army of riggers and battle-hardened cameraman, Ian Burton.
0:02:43 > 0:02:49This striking and powerful monument may look like it's landed from outer space, but the shape of the Imperial
0:02:49 > 0:02:53War Museum North is designed to make you experience something of the emotion of war.
0:02:53 > 0:02:59It's modelled on the concept of a globe shattered by conflict into three distinct shards
0:02:59 > 0:03:05that represent different arenas of battle - earth, air and water.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10I'm beginning my climb at the Water Shard to see how the three elements come together.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- So much work going on, Lou.- I know.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Diggers, drills, cranes everywhere.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22This is now one of the oldest buildings on the site all ready, isn't it?
0:03:22 > 0:03:27- It's crazy.- The most modern building in the series, but it's about to be engulfed, it seems.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30So what do you think of it. What's your first take?
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I'm finding it hard to make sense of it.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36You sort of look one way and it feels like the building's going to fall on top of you
0:03:36 > 0:03:39and you look another way and there's this sharp corner.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Now, I've got to constantly keep in our mind the idea of what it says about war.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Yes, that's very true.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Because that is at the top of the agenda for this place, isn't it?
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Yeah. It sounds like we're in some sort of war zone here, actually.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Well, you start to get a sense from here of the position of the museum
0:04:06 > 0:04:13right next to the canal and the public walkway that's being built between the building and the water.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Along this route people will walk and get a sense of this building, without even having to walk into it.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21This is such a dynamic and expressive shape
0:04:21 > 0:04:26that it tells you about war, even on your way to work or on your bike.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33In 1997 a competition was held to design the Imperial War Museum North.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38The winning design was that of Polish-born architect, Daniel Libeskind.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Often accused of designing the unbuildable, prior to winning
0:04:41 > 0:04:49the competition he had only one major commission under his belt, the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54What was it about his track record that inspired confidence?
0:04:54 > 0:04:56I think his track record didn't inspire confidence.
0:04:56 > 0:05:03This was his first major building, apart from the Jewish Museum, which took 12 years to build in Berlin.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06So he was not a guy with a great practical record.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11But he's a hugely convincing and likeable man and his designs are very compelling.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16He came to the presentation with a ceramic that was broken,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19saying, "Look, a world shattered by conflict.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I'll build you a museum from the pieces of the broken world."
0:05:22 > 0:05:26But I sort of give thanks every day that Libeskind was chosen, because
0:05:26 > 0:05:32it is a very remarkable building, I think akin to some of the great cathedrals for its presence.
0:05:32 > 0:05:38How did Daniel Libeskind's own personal history infuse this place with meaning?
0:05:38 > 0:05:45Both sides of his own family and his wife's family were involved in concentration camps.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50They were incarcerated for quite a long time and then eventually went back to Warsaw
0:05:50 > 0:05:54and encountered a surprising amount of anti-Semitism in post-war Warsaw.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58So Daniel's own personal experiences, even though he was
0:05:58 > 0:06:01too young to be in the war, were overshadowed by it.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06His family experiences were very strong and he just comes alive when
0:06:06 > 0:06:12he's working on something that he really believes in and I think that shines through in this building.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16It's a passionate expression of his own sense of history.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I've made it to the top of the Water Shard, where I'm greeted
0:06:20 > 0:06:24by the sight of the 180-foot high Air Shard.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Gosh, that's a view.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Wow, look at that thing.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30It's amazing.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34It is a giant wedge and no wall seems to be at all regular, is it?
0:06:34 > 0:06:39- It's curved everywhere. There's not a right angle in the place!- No.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43This lack of right angles, or indeed any discernible symmetry, is the first of many architectural
0:06:43 > 0:06:46tricks Libeskind uses to evoke the confusion of war.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51There's nothing charming or pleasing about Libeskind's building in the conventional sense,
0:06:51 > 0:06:56for which he makes no apologies, reasoning that war is inherently disorientating
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and destructive, the shape of the building should reflect this.
0:07:00 > 0:07:07Right, well, we've done Gothic, Tudor, Victorian, lots of other styles, has this got a name?
0:07:07 > 0:07:10What would you call this sort of architecture?
0:07:10 > 0:07:12It's a good question.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14This is called deconstructivism.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19And what this does is says, "Right, take an item, smash it up, put it back together again."
0:07:19 > 0:07:23- Right, OK.- It's about creating form for form's sake.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Something totally new, something often quite dramatic.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30But the real thing about deconstructivism is that there is no historical
0:07:30 > 0:07:36language to draw on, so you can't say, "Oh yes, what this is, that's St Paul's Cathedral reinterpreted."
0:07:36 > 0:07:38There's nothing like that that gives it away.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42It's very much, you have to form a relationship and see what you can make of these buildings.
0:07:42 > 0:07:48- And explore.- You've got to be open-minded, that's the thing.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Deconstructivism emerged during the 1980s and as it deliberately ignores
0:07:51 > 0:07:57any style of architecture that went before, it's often been viewed with great suspicion.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00It is intriguing, the idea of deconstructivism, you take something
0:08:00 > 0:08:03that's perfect and then you break it up and make it interesting.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08- Yes.- You can see there are going to be kids across Britain now, smashing tea pots and saying, "Mum,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12"look what I've done - deconstructed it for you!"
0:08:12 > 0:08:14"Thank you, William, don't do it again."
0:08:14 > 0:08:19But if you're going to do it anywhere and disturb and disorient people,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22the Museum of War is the place to do it, in my book.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Absolutely, yes.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Before construction began, the whole project was thrown into crisis.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35A bid for Lottery funding failed, so Libeskind's budget was slashed by a third.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40Forced to scale down his vision, he kept the shattered globe concept, but was no longer able to build
0:08:40 > 0:08:43out of solid concrete as originally planned.
0:08:43 > 0:08:49His decision to reduce costs by dressing the building with 80,000 square feet of aluminium cladding
0:08:49 > 0:08:51proved to be a blessing in disguise,
0:08:51 > 0:08:56as it allows the museum's sharp metal facets a certain beauty in the shifting sun.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01I'm going inside the Water Shard to get a closer look at how it was constructed.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Tell me if you find a horizontal surface.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08- I'll be in to enjoy it. - No straight lines.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- Great, we're in.- Yes.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Right. I'm going to go out and tidy up some of these ropes.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19- Bless, you thank you so much. - See you later.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21I'm going to have a little nosy around.
0:09:21 > 0:09:27And it's great to see the structure inside this, which is the Water Shard, you can see the steel
0:09:27 > 0:09:33eyebeams, what is called a universal column and an eyebeam.
0:09:33 > 0:09:41Standard part of steel construction but then there is a frame on the inside, clad in insulation,
0:09:41 > 0:09:46because this will be the top of the core of this shard. This is just the cladding.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49And then you see the aluminium, quite simply bolted to it.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53So it's a very skeletal, simple construction, even if all the angles are cranky.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58The trick now is to descend and get into the building itself.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02I'm dropping down into the main body of the Water Shard,
0:10:02 > 0:10:07which is used as a cafe for the quarter of a million people who visit the museum each year.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11The Water Shard is intended to symbolise battles on the high seas
0:10:11 > 0:10:16and I'm keen to see how Libeskind uses architecture to convey that.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18I don't want to leave any marks on the wall there.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Imagine children in this cafe, looking up and saying, "Mummy
0:10:24 > 0:10:26"there are footprints on the wall, who's been walking up there?"
0:10:26 > 0:10:30That would seem bizarre indeed, for this is a cafe.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I'm inside the Water Shard and immediately you can see
0:10:33 > 0:10:37that the curve of the roof outside is followed inside.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42This is a remarkably-shaped space and nothing is at a regular angle.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Those great piers with the lights running through them,
0:10:45 > 0:10:50like great search lights going up to the ceiling, they're all at diagonal angles.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55This room, with its stripped windows, is directly overlooking that Manchester Ship Canal.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58It brings to mind boats, but the way in which the roof
0:10:58 > 0:11:04curves down, that ceiling, makes you feel the prow of a boat, something like an ocean liner.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05It's remarkable.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Really, really thrilling building.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Even in the cafe.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Whilst the Water Shard is a great place to have a cup of tea, the true genius of this building
0:11:17 > 0:11:23doesn't reveal itself until you enter the main exhibition space, housed in the cavernous Earth Shard.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28As you move through the exhibition, you're struck by an increasing sense of unease.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31But it's not just the relics of war on display that cause it.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35This is the main exhibition space inside the Earth Shard
0:11:35 > 0:11:39and the floor follows the curve of the roof.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43So it drops about six feet or so as you make your way through it
0:11:43 > 0:11:46and you feel that weird disorientation.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Take a ball, have a look.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Libeskind uses a number of architectural tricks to disturb and unnerve visitors,
0:11:56 > 0:12:02encouraging them to reflect on the perils, mechanics and, above all, the human cost of war.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06The Earth Shard represents conflict on land and the exhibition space reflects this.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12It's made up of a series of large display towers, which never allow you a clear view of the whole room,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16echoing the experience of the soldier who never knows what's around the corner.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21I'm climbing 30 feet to get a different perspective of Libeskind's interior design.
0:12:23 > 0:12:31The design for the museum is based on the idea of silos, where there are these jagged islands
0:12:31 > 0:12:33in the middle of the main exhibition space.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38You wander from one alleyway to the next, it feels like an abandoned, deserted place,
0:12:38 > 0:12:47and above those fractured blocks that might be buildings, are these extraordinary lights.
0:12:47 > 0:12:53They look like search lights, sweeping the skies for signs of bombs and aircraft.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58And all this contributes to the effect that somehow you're in the arena of war.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02It's extremely effective.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06But, unusually for a museum, the dominating feature of this exhibition space
0:13:06 > 0:13:09is the vast expanse of plain white walls.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12It's a cool space, but I'm kind of wondering why there's so many
0:13:12 > 0:13:17blank walls, considering it's an exhibition space. It seems a bit odd.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22Yes, well Mr Libeskind's so-called silos, these blocks which look so
0:13:22 > 0:13:26much like a town or city, they have a real specific purpose.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Because when you walk in normally, you think, "Gosh all of that unused
0:13:29 > 0:13:34"exhibition space, you could hang all kinds of weaponry on there."
0:13:34 > 0:13:36But it does have a real purpose.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39It's where architecture meets installation. Watch this.
0:13:39 > 0:13:45CHAMBERLAIN: "I have to tell you now this country is at war with Germany."
0:13:45 > 0:13:50WOMAN: 'And then just as he finished speaking, the sirens started.'
0:13:50 > 0:13:54It's a really interesting message in there, the fact that war
0:13:54 > 0:14:00it is pervasive in society, so there is no one way of looking at war.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02There are myriad ways
0:14:02 > 0:14:08and even though you are in the midst of what
0:14:08 > 0:14:13Libeskind wanted - a total immersion in the panorama of war -
0:14:13 > 0:14:17it's still so fragmented, each picture tells a different story.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Some are intimate, some are cartoons, some are crowds.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24And the themes change. That you're still disorientated.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27- You're still not sure exactly where to turn.- I know.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29But everywhere you turn it involves you.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32I think it's really powerful for a museum to do that.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37I have to say when I first saw these silos, I wasn't overly impressed.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43- Not convinced.- No, but it just works for this exact purpose.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44It's brilliant.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Well, I enjoyed that. That was an unusual perspective on war.
0:14:48 > 0:14:49It was, wasn't it?
0:14:57 > 0:15:04The third element of Libeskind's grand design is the air shard that looms 180 feet over the canal.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10The base of it houses the main entrance to the museum, but it's not quite as grand as you might expect.
0:15:10 > 0:15:17The entrance is quite dark, it's solid concrete, almost oppressive and bunker-like.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20It's very much a human scale. You can touch the sides with your fingertips,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23you can just touch the roof as well.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27But then you walk through to the Air Shard and the space explodes.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Imagine the sense of anticipation as you fly off to war - the drama of air-to-air combat,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38the mixed emotions you feel as you see your enemy cowering beneath you.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Well, Libeskind designed the Air Shard to give you such sensations,
0:15:41 > 0:15:46and I'm going to climb its asymmetrical frame to find out how he achieved it.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50- About 100 feet, Lou.- It's a big one.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53- It's like a giant climbing frame, isn't it?- I know, it's fantastic.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55Just wish we had 15-foot long arms, don't we, really?
0:15:55 > 0:15:59So we could clamber up like giant spider monkeys.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06This climbing frame continues Libeskind's game of subtly disorientating you.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10The Air Shard, like the rest of the building, is really rather wonky.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14- When you dangle like this...- Yeah?
0:16:14 > 0:16:16You, of course, get a natural vertical on your rope, don't you?
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Yeah, gravity's pulling us where it wants us to go.
0:16:19 > 0:16:26- So you actually get a register of what real vertical is against the sides of the building.- Oh, yeah.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Because when you walk in you don't really notice it.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32I totally hadn't noticed that. That is bizarre.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38But I think it works on some subconscious level, you know it's not quite what you were expecting.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41- Something's not quite right.- Exactly, that disorienting thing again.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44But with a rope, you can actually check it against true vertical.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46That's really illustrating it, isn't it?
0:16:46 > 0:16:50- And it is quite a way out, isn't it? - It's bizarre, yeah. It's...
0:16:50 > 0:16:52totally off vertical.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59The lack of funding created one of the most striking features of the Air Shard.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Libeskind originally intended the walls to be made from solid concrete,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07but after having to redesign the building he chose to use aluminium columns
0:17:07 > 0:17:13which allow wind, rain and even snow to whistle through the open floor-to-roof slits.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Gosh, I'm glad we're not doing this in winter.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18- Oh, yeah, it would be cold, wouldn't it?- It would be really cold.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- I mean, these tubes...- Your hands would freeze to those things.- Yeah.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25And these great slats, it's like a cladding, isn't it?
0:17:25 > 0:17:31- Yeah.- A cladding which doesn't really clad, because the wind comes through. It is one thing and yet
0:17:31 > 0:17:33also another, it's...
0:17:33 > 0:17:35solid and it's void.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I think what he's trying to do here is
0:17:38 > 0:17:42convey something of the quality of a haunted house.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Cos you know when buildings are bombed...
0:17:44 > 0:17:47- Yeah.- You tend to see...
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Well, they're never totally obliterated at first.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51No, you get left with a shell.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- Don't you, there are fragments.- Mmm.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57And so this shard with its brokenness, its half inside, half-out,
0:17:57 > 0:17:58that's what you get in houses.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02The doors are often still on in certain rooms, there's wallpaper
0:18:02 > 0:18:09that's revealed to all the world, there's shattered panelling, but all of those things
0:18:09 > 0:18:11are actually
0:18:11 > 0:18:14quite intimate relics of the former life of the building,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16and I think he's trying to give you some of that here.
0:18:16 > 0:18:22It gives a sense of the pretty brutal nature of war.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Financial constraints may have forced Libeskind to compromise his original vision
0:18:29 > 0:18:33but what we are left with is an even more dynamic and original space.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38With the wind whistling through those slits combined with the crazy angles of the building below,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41you're left with an overwhelming sense of what it's like to be airborne over
0:18:41 > 0:18:46a battlefield and reflect upon the precariousness of life below.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Ultimately, I think it's a pretty good result that he didn't have the budget
0:18:53 > 0:18:56to build this thing solid, as he first intended, and that
0:18:56 > 0:19:00default of saying, "OK, there's not enough money. Tell you what, we'll
0:19:00 > 0:19:04"just put some plain boxes of aluminium and slats," exactly.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07- It works well, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Beautiful light and shade on a day like today, the way that the air moves through it,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15- I think is inadvertent genius, really.- Yeah.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Well, I enjoyed that.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Yeah, me too. It was great.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22A curious oversize climbing frame. Hey, but check this floor out. See that?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25That's where normal mortals come.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Come out of the lift and walk through this black tunnel.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33Look, you can't see up, you can't see to either side except through tiny slits casting light.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36But your gaze is directed down, look, through the floor.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Wow.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41- Through this mesh.- Oh!
0:19:41 > 0:19:44It's weird, isn't it? It really is disorienting.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47The faster you move, if you think, "Oh, I need to get away from here,"
0:19:47 > 0:19:52- the faster you move, the clearer you see that great height. - That's quite cool, actually.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54It actually pins you to the spot, doesn't it?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Yeah. Ooh!
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Isn't that clever? Something as industrial as this
0:20:01 > 0:20:03gives you that theatrical sense.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05It's really manipulative and clever.
0:20:05 > 0:20:12It is. You almost get a slight dizzy feeling, because the eyes don't quite know how to make sense of it all.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Yeah. But you get these occasional bits of reference like that view of
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Manchester through the window, it's beautifully framed.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- It is.- Very well thought-out, this whole thing, but it does
0:20:21 > 0:20:25beg a question, doesn't it, of what is a museum for in the 21st century?
0:20:25 > 0:20:30Is it about simply displaying objects or is it about conveying
0:20:30 > 0:20:36some emotional reality, a different sensibility?
0:20:36 > 0:20:40I like that, that you're experiencing something,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45you're not just looking at something in the sort of traditional way maybe
0:20:45 > 0:20:50- a museum would have been set up, you are actually part of it and getting feelings from it.- Yeah.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- It's fantastic.- There's not a single glass case here, is there?
0:20:53 > 0:20:54No.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58This is Libeskind's masterstroke.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Not only does the museum show you the history of war,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06it tells you something about how the experience felt.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11The viewing platform is as high as the visiting public can go, but Lucy and I aren't finished yet.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15OK, Lucy, how are we going to get up on top of this shard?
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Well, the only way onto the roof, apparently, is through this hatch.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23- So...- It's a bit narrow for me. - It is, yeah.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Woo-hoo! Hello!
0:21:28 > 0:21:33Simply walking to the summit of the Air Shard's out of the question as the roof is way too delicate for my
0:21:33 > 0:21:38hefty size elevens, so we have to take a bit of a roundabout route.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41- As always, Lucy makes it look effortless...- Awesome!
0:21:41 > 0:21:43OK, Jonathan!
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Whilst I'm a little less graceful.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Well, now, this is a tricky little devil.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Look at Lou already.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53This is the life!
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Come on, sun!
0:21:55 > 0:21:57I'm ready for you.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02From here I can get a fantastic feel for how the museum fits into its surroundings.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05It's a great place to see the view and get the context of the museum.
0:22:05 > 0:22:11On the horizon is the Peak District, and then there's Manchester, the world's first industrialised town
0:22:11 > 0:22:14with its high rises, and then Salford, which itself
0:22:14 > 0:22:21saw the world's first purpose-built industrial park, key to which was this, the Manchester ship canal.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25And here is where textiles and cars and machinery were made,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30and into the Second World War 34,000 Merlin engines for aircraft.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34So it's no wonder it was a target for the Luftwaffe, and they gave it a heck of a pounding.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38And so this brownfield site with polluted soil laid
0:22:38 > 0:22:41pretty much fallow for the rest of the 20th century.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46Now, though, all that's changed because there's a great deal of development everywhere you look.
0:22:46 > 0:22:52Over the water is the Lowry Centre for the Arts, and the BBC are building Media City, a purpose-built
0:22:52 > 0:22:58site for broadcasting, and all these flats are springing up.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03And so this whole area is like an entire city in its birth pains.
0:23:03 > 0:23:10What this has got to look forward to is really anyone's guess so far, but it's an exciting and dynamic place.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16I enjoyed that.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18- It's pretty cool, isn't it? - Yeah, it is.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20It is a great city, Manchester.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25I'm now making my way gingerly across the curved roof of the Earth Shard
0:23:25 > 0:23:27to the base of our final ascent.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32I tell you what, it's flipping hot, too, so I'm going to disrobe.
0:23:32 > 0:23:33Very sensible.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Well, to some extent.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39- Hold it there!- You've got to be fair on the people of Salford.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42When we get to the top of this, Lou, I'm going to ask you
0:23:42 > 0:23:46what your favourite buildings have been in this series.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49So when you're climbing, have a little think about it, would you?
0:23:49 > 0:23:52- I want to see if we coincide.- OK.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54I'm sure we won't.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57I'm sure we've got very different ideas about architecture.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Well, good.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03In order to stop this building grating me like some piece of cheese,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Lucy's going to lower me slowly into position.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11- Now, that's a cunning little knot. - It is, it's called an Italian hitch.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14I think I had one of those once when I was about 18.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16That's great, I'm digging this.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22Lucy follows me with her customary agility, and now it's time to start our climb.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- It might be a bit of an indulgence...- Hello!- Hello, madam!
0:24:25 > 0:24:29But as it's my last climb it would be a pity not to reach the summit.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34This is the final step in my journey through the story of
0:24:34 > 0:24:41British architecture that's taken me from the courage and brilliance of the great Norman and Gothic masons
0:24:41 > 0:24:46via the grand ostentation of the baroque age to the technical wonders of the Lloyd's building
0:24:46 > 0:24:52and finally here, where radical architecture points to the future even as it speaks about our past.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55So, Lou, your favourite buildings, then?
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Oh, I was hoping you'd forget!
0:24:57 > 0:25:02- Wind your mind back over the whole series, what did you enjoy? - Oh, dear.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Well, I have to say...
0:25:05 > 0:25:12For one of the climbs that we did, the abseil at St Paul's, for me, you can't beat it.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16It was just completely incredible. Breathtaking.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18- That's amazing.- We're doing it, man.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21We are abseiling down the middle of St Paul's Cathedral.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26That is probably the maddest thing I've done in my life.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Yeah, that was amazing.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30But probably not my favourite building.
0:25:30 > 0:25:36I really like the older buildings, actually, I really liked getting up close to...
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- Caernarfon Castle. - You like Caernarfon?- Yeah.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- Woo-hoo!- She is so gung-ho.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48I really loved Caernarfon Castle.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51- It was a very beautiful thing, wasn't it?- Yeah. So what about you?
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Have you got a favourite?
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Ooh... I mean, in terms of pure architecture,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00loved Lincoln Cathedral. Loved that.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02In the Middle Ages, there was a spire that stood here.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05It stretched as high again into the air.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11The audacity of the people who built this place, it just keeps going on amazing you.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14And then the Glasgow School of Art.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Yes! That was a real surprise to me.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Every corner had something.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24This is the tree that never grew, this is the bird that never flew,
0:26:24 > 0:26:29this is the fish that never swam and this is the bell that never rang.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31Poetry in metal.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33It's quite rough stone, actually.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35- That's done on purpose, though.- Yeah.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37- It's much more like a castle or something.- Yeah.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42- It's a pretty butch looking building.- It is.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47For me, all of those buildings, it's about the thought that goes behind the design.
0:26:47 > 0:26:54And then using the finest materials as well, that I've always found is something which wins you over.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- It's about creating a legacy.- Yeah.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59You can't help but be moved by that.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02- Hasn't been a dull note for me.- No.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04No. It's been an amazing experience.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06So last zip, Lou.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Yeah.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10- And that's it.- I know.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Aww! OK, right.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Need to enjoy it. Bye!
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Oh, I'm quite sad! It's the last one!
0:27:27 > 0:27:30OK!
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Well, that's tried and tested.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38It's been a real pleasure climbing all the buildings we've visited, and it's given me completely new
0:27:38 > 0:27:41perspectives on buildings that I thought I knew well.
0:27:41 > 0:27:47Many of them marvellously crafted buildings - Layer Marney, Burghley, St Paul's Cathedral,
0:27:47 > 0:27:53all extraordinary works of craftsmanship and vision, but I'm really pleased we finished
0:27:53 > 0:27:57on this one because it's unlike any of the buildings we have seen before.
0:27:57 > 0:28:04The way it tells a global story on its small site is really inspiring, and it reaches so many people.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09And I think at the turn of the 21st century we can look back on all the buildings we've seen
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and enjoy them for what they are, but ultimately they all
0:28:12 > 0:28:17lead the way, they all contribute to the evolution of architecture, and that journey is not finished.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19We're off, Olly.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34- Whee!- Bless you. - Well done.- That has been fabulous.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36That was awesome. Oh! Awesome!
0:29:07 > 0:29:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:10 > 0:29:13E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk