How one design flaw almost toppled a skyscraper - Alex Gendler

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How one design flaw almost toppled a skyscraper - Alex Gendler with tags citicorp tower, citicorp tower design flaw, citicorp center, citicorp center saved by student, skyscraper, skyscraper design, diane hartley, diane hartley citicorp, manhattan, william lemessurier, exoskeleton, exoskeleton building, tuned mass damper, counterweight, hurricane ella, newspaper strike, nyc skyscraper, skyscraper fall, engineering, architecture, building design, engineering mistakes, education, animation, alex gendler, alopra studio, ted, ted-ed, ted ed, ted education

Dig into the unique engineering of New York City’s Citicorp Center tower, and the design flaw that threatened to topple it.

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In 1978, Diane Hartley was writing her undergraduate architecture thesis when she made a shocking discovery. After weeks of poring over the Citicorp Center’s building plans, she’d stumbled on an oversight that threatened to topple the 59-story tower into one of New York City’s most densely populated districts. Alex Gendler digs into the skyscraper’s potentially deadly mistake.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, directed by Nicholas Paim, Alopra Studio.

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