For immediate release August 11 2006
NHNZ Showcases Asia’s Man Made Marvels.
Asia is the world’s fastest growing industrial powerhouse; a region fuelled by innovation and home to boundary-breaking
design.
Now NHNZ is taking viewers on a journey through contemporary Asia’s most exciting, controversial and ambitious
construction projects.
From Japan to Taiwan to Korea, Asian states are at the forefront of cutting edge architecture, design and engineering.
The tallest building, the toughest tunnel or the fastest train, Asia is home to projects that push the limit of physics
beyond what was ever deemed possible, and design that has changed the conventions of aesthetics forever.
Man Made Marvels, a co-production with Discovery Asia, investigates the planning and execution of a variety of landmark
constructions. From Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building - the ‘city within a city’, to the massive and avant-garde
Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, an aquarium so huge it can comfortably house three whale sharks. Another episode features
the building of Taiwan’s Hseuhshan Tunnel, dubbed the ‘world’s toughest tunnel’.
“In contemporary Asia there is a sense that nothing is impossible,” says Man Made Marvels executive producer Andrew
Waterworth.
“Every project featured in Man Made Marvels suffered incredible setbacks during construction. But each team possessed a
steadfast belief that their objective, no matter how difficult or extreme, was ultimately achievable.
“Asia clearly has the confidence, the economic prosperity and the sheer will to lead the next global revolution in the
design and engineering industries.”
NHNZ is one of the world’s leading producers of factual programming embracing the genres of nature, health, science,
adventure and people. With over 70 programmes currently in production, NHNZ crews work in locations around the world to
produce a diversity of films for international broadcasters including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, BSkyB,
National Geographic Channel, HGTV, France 5, NHK in Japan and ZDF and Kabel One in Germany. Based in Dunedin, New
Zealand, the company is wholly owned by Fox Television Studios.
ENDS