the.com/elevators
the only machines that quietly killed the height limit on human ambition.
means Vertical lifting cars that move people and goods between floors of a building, raised and lowered by cables or hydraulics.
from From 'elevate,' which comes through French from Latin 'elevare' — 'to lift up,' built from 'e-' (out) and 'levare' (to raise, a cousin of 'levis,' light). The '-or' ending names the thing that does the lifting. It's an Americanism: in the United States the rising room became the 'elevator,' while the British kept the plainer 'lift.' The word is older than the safe passenger version — what made the machine trustworthy was the 19th-century safety brake, after which buildings stopped being limited by how many stairs people would willingly climb.
- skyscraper enabler
- Cities went vertical only after safe elevators existed
- safety brake
- Otis stayed up after cutting the rope live, 1854
- top floor flip
- Penthouses became premium once stairs stopped mattering
- physics trick
- Counterweights mean motors barely lift your weight
- door fear
- Close button often does absolutely nothing
otis elevator company — invented the safety elevator in 1852, installed in e.v. haughwout building in new york city
burj khalifa elevators — world's fastest elevators at 40.7 km/h, reaching 828 meters in dubai
taipei 101 elevators — fastest elevators in taiwan at 60.48 km/h, travel 101 floors in 39 seconds