Building techniques have undoubtedly played a crucial role in enabling modern humans to build skyscrapers. But before we could even think about buildings ten or twenty floors high, we needed a way of getting to the top of the building and that meant lifts.
The first lifts
Since the earliest times, people have tried to find ways of lifting objects and themselves through vertical space. Over the years, human and animal power, ropes and pulleys have been used in various forms. Hoists in Ancient Greece were used to take people and goods to the tops of mountains. It is believed that there was a lift in the monastery at Sinai in Egypt, powered by hand or by animals. It wasn't until 1852 that a lift with a safety mechanism was produced, when Elisha Otis developed a mechanism to prevent the fall of the lift in the event of the cable breaking. A modern lift operates using a similar method. In the following years, more lifts were produced, with added features or using different technology. Now there are stringent health and safety requirements, which have to be adhered to, including regular lift maintenance, in order to ensure the safety of the lift passengers.
How did the introduction of the lift influence building projects?
There were tall buildings before the invention of the lift. For example, there were the pyramids and much later, cathedrals throughout Europe. These structures were monuments with no one living in them, but there were also tall inhabited buildings. There is evidence of six or seven storey buildings in 3rd century Egypt. The ground floors were shops and homes for the wealthy, with poorer people living higher up. In the 1800s there was an increase in the number of prestigious, glamorous buildings, particularly in the United States. Besides the development of the lift and the increasing safety of lift installations, this was also the time that steel started to be used as a building material. Instead of requiring thick stone walls to build tall buildings, it was now possible to design buildings of a thinner structure.
As buildings grew in height and were used for living and commercial purposes, the need for the lift increased exponentially. Without the invention of the modern lift, our city skylines would be much the same as they were over 150 years ago. We would not have the majestic height of the skyscrapers that characterise our cities throughout the world.
Ellie Morgan has an interest in city architecture and writes on a number of websites. She is writing about the history of the lift for www.pickeringslifts.co.uk/.
The first lifts
Since the earliest times, people have tried to find ways of lifting objects and themselves through vertical space. Over the years, human and animal power, ropes and pulleys have been used in various forms. Hoists in Ancient Greece were used to take people and goods to the tops of mountains. It is believed that there was a lift in the monastery at Sinai in Egypt, powered by hand or by animals. It wasn't until 1852 that a lift with a safety mechanism was produced, when Elisha Otis developed a mechanism to prevent the fall of the lift in the event of the cable breaking. A modern lift operates using a similar method. In the following years, more lifts were produced, with added features or using different technology. Now there are stringent health and safety requirements, which have to be adhered to, including regular lift maintenance, in order to ensure the safety of the lift passengers.
How did the introduction of the lift influence building projects?
There were tall buildings before the invention of the lift. For example, there were the pyramids and much later, cathedrals throughout Europe. These structures were monuments with no one living in them, but there were also tall inhabited buildings. There is evidence of six or seven storey buildings in 3rd century Egypt. The ground floors were shops and homes for the wealthy, with poorer people living higher up. In the 1800s there was an increase in the number of prestigious, glamorous buildings, particularly in the United States. Besides the development of the lift and the increasing safety of lift installations, this was also the time that steel started to be used as a building material. Instead of requiring thick stone walls to build tall buildings, it was now possible to design buildings of a thinner structure.
As buildings grew in height and were used for living and commercial purposes, the need for the lift increased exponentially. Without the invention of the modern lift, our city skylines would be much the same as they were over 150 years ago. We would not have the majestic height of the skyscrapers that characterise our cities throughout the world.
Ellie Morgan has an interest in city architecture and writes on a number of websites. She is writing about the history of the lift for www.pickeringslifts.co.uk/.
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