Anatomy of a Near-Miss
A podcast by DAVIDE ATERNINO
Real stories of the close calls behind history's biggest builds.
PREMIERES November 1, 2026.
Behind every famous building is a moment when it almost went wrong. Anatomy of a Near-Miss tells the real stories of the design flaws, close calls and last-minute saves behind the world's great architecture and construction projects, from a skyscraper that could have fallen in a storm to a tower that spent 800 years leaning.
Hosted by Davide Aternino, Principal at Mouldex Composites.
New episodes on the 1st of every month.
Trailer coming soon
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All three launch episodes arrive on November 1. Listening links will be added here at launch.
Season one
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Episode 1
The Skyscraper That Couldn't Take a Hint
Citicorp Center, New York, 1978
Past midnight in Midtown Manhattan, welders work through the night inside a brand-new tower while a hurricane churns offshore, and the man who ordered the work is the engineer who designed the building.
Available November 1
Show SponsorAfterthought Structural Assurance
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Episode 2
The Tower That Wouldn't Stand Up Straight
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, 1990 to 2001
Eight hundred years into its slow-motion fall, engineers set out to save the world's favourite architectural blunder, and one night the instruments show the tower starting to move the wrong way.
Available November 1
Show SponsorHeavyThoughts Monument Ballast
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Episode 3
The Building Nobody Knew How to Build
Sydney Opera House, Australia, 1957 to 1973
The boldest building of its era is rising over Sydney Harbour when its architect walks away, and nobody left on the job knows how to finish it.
Available November 1
Show SponsorShapeLater Design-Now Architecture
About the show
What Anatomy of a Near-Miss is
Anatomy of a Near-Miss is a monthly narrative podcast about the moments when famous buildings almost went wrong. Each episode follows one project from the first drawings to the close call, then looks at how it was caught, how it was fixed and what the industry learned from it.
Every episode is built on public, well-documented stories. We work from published histories, engineering reports and reputable reporting, and the sources for each episode are listed in its show notes.
About the host
Davide Aternino
Anatomy of a Near-Miss is hosted by Davide Aternino, Principal at Mouldex Composites.
New episodes on the 1st of every month.
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+1 (905) 660-6338 1 (888) MOULDEX
Live chat with Davide on the bottom right.