Cathedral, City, Pyramid, Castle, and Mill were later adapted into documentaries produced by Unicorn Productions, each of which aired sporadically on PBS from 1983 to 1994. The September 11 attacks motivated Macaulay to create Mosque to show how the traditions of major religions have more in common than they have dividing them. This was followed by a series of books of the same type: City (1974), on the construction of Verbonia, a fictitious but typical ancient Roman city Pyramid (1975), a collection of diagrams and sketches illustrating the construction process of the pyramid monuments to the Egyptian Pharaohs Castle (1977), on the construction of Aberwyvern castle, a fictitious but typical medieval castle Mill (1983), on the evolution of New England mills and Mosque (2003), which depicts the design and construction of an Ottoman-style masjid. His first book, Cathedral (1973), was a history, extensively illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings, of the construction of a fictitious but representative Gothic cathedral. Macaulay is the author of several books on architecture and design.

Roman City won the 1994 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.Macaulay currently lives in Norwich, Vermont. Notably, the animated characters are voiced by famed actors such as Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, and Brian Blessed. In this story, Marcus attempts to create a well-designed city but faces the challenges of both political corruption and local insurrection.

Macaulay also appears as the host of this program (one of a series that was based on his books), which cuts back and forth between two parts: a documentary that guides viewers through the archaeological remains of Roman cities, highlighting both engineering feats and architectural features and an animated story of the construction of Verbonia by the architect Marcus Fabricius during the reign of Caesar Augustus. This one-hour PBS production is based on illustrator and author David Macaulay’s 1974 book, City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction, in which he depicts the construction of Verbonia, a fictitious but typical ancient Roman city situated in Gaul (modern-day France).

David macaulay pbs