Vertical City Season 1

As the tallest residential skyscraper in the UK, Manchester's distinctive Beetham Tower is turning heads and dividing opinion. Heading up a new generation of skyscrapers that are regenerating Britain's post-industrial cities, Beetham is at the heart of a battle between traditionalists and modernists. Despite producing some of the world's leading architects such as Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, Britain isn't exactly enamoured with skyscrapers. And this reluctance to embrace the high-rise even extends to the country's future king, Prince Charles.

The iconic 375 Park Avenue in New York, built in 1958 by the king of Modernist design, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, changed skyscraper design forever. As the world's most influential and copied tower, it has inspired the square glass blocks of every global skyline. But behind its revolutionary glass façade is the fascinating story of how a skyscraper that couldn't afford to be built got built - and how its creator finally managed to realise his 40-year architectural dream.

Every major city has a symbolic piece of architecture that projects its image to the world. But what happens when a city loses its trademark icon? This was exactly the problem that faced Malmo in Sweden - but it came up with the perfect way to reinvent itself. The city decided to build a radical skyscraper, created by one of the world's most innovative architects, Santiago Calatrava. But daring design always courts controversy - and the whole project very nearly ended in disaster.

Hong Kong's Bank of China building was designed by award-winning architect IM Pei and houses the Bank of China Headquarters. The huge financial institution was formerly based in a 'modest' 17-storey stone edifice elsewhere in Hong Kong, but moved to the 72-floor building in 1989. The tower courted controversy when it was constructed largely without consultation from Feng Shui masters, typically a routine step in the construction of tall buildings in China.

Skyscrapers have transformed cities across the globe - most notably the famous skyline of Manhattan. But on 9/11, this historic cityscape became forever linked with one event that forced architects to rethink. Designed by skyscraper guru David Childs, from renowned architects SOM, 7 World Trade Center is the first building to be constructed on Ground Zero and it has taken skyscraper safety to new levels. But overlooking a plot of land that symbolises the risk of building tall, do those who work in it really feel safe?

In 1991, One Canada Square, the UK's tallest skyscraper, changed the London skyline. But the Cesar Pelli designed icon wasn't in the heart of the capital. Instead, the developers had taken a billion dollar gamble on creating an international financial centre, symbolised by this obelisk-shaped tower, in the desolate docklands of the city's East End. But when the world property market collapsed just after the complex was completed, the developers went bankrupt and a large part of the tower lay in darkness...