Historical Lifts: Who Made The First Lift?

The modern day skyline is filled with skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, but none would have been possible without the help of the humble lift.

Can you imagine climbing 2,909 stairs to the top of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, or scaling 1,576 stairs to reach the top of the iconic Empire State Building in New York? No, us either.

As one of the key inventions of modern day architecture, learn more about the history of lifts.

The First Lift

We as humans have always looked for ways to lift things, and the beginnings of an lift-type contraption date back as far as the 3rd century. Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer, Archimedes, was reported to have invented a hoist constructed from hemp rope and powered by animals and water wheels.

Fast forward to 1743, and the first personal lift was built for King Louis XV. Located outside King’s balcony, this primitive elevator was nicknamed “The Flying Chair,” which the French monarch used to move discreetly between the first and second floor of his apartment to visit his mistress.

Similarly to Archimedes’s initial device, The Flying Chair wasn’t that technologically advanced, it was simply a small cabinet which men stationed inside a chimney would raise and lower using a rope and pulley system.

19th Century Lifts

Ignited by the Industrial Revolution, it wasn’t until the 19th century, that lift technology began to really advance.

In 1823, two British architects, Burton and Hormer, built the “ascending room”, a lift designed to transport tourists to a platform to view the London skyline. Several years later, a separate pair of architects, Frost and Strutt, developed that design further by adding in a belt and counter-weight to steam the power. However, these lifts were still considered unreliable and dangerous; if the ropes broke, then the lift and passengers would plummet the bottom.

Safety First For Otis

In 1852, American industrialist, Elisha Graves Otis invented a safety brake that revolutionised the vertical transportation industry.

In the event of the rope breaking in an lift, a spring would cause a wooden frame to snap out against the sides of the lift shaft, and halt the car in place. This safety hoist, was successfully demonstrated by Otis at the 1854 New York World Fair. Following the presentation, the first such lift was installed t 488 Broadway in New York in 1857.

Otis went on to found a lift company, Otis Brothers (known today as the Otis Elevator Company), and installed the first public lift in a five-storey New York department store in 1874. The company continued to make advancements in lift safety and efficiency. Today, the Otis Elevator Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of lifts and escalators.

Electric Lifts

The first electric lift was built by Werner von Siemens in 1880. With innovations in electricity at the forefront of Siemens’ mind, he pursued other projects such as electric trains and electric power systems. Siemens halted developing the electric lift any further.

Subsequently two decades later, Otis Brothers & Co established that electric power should be the principal technology for lift design. The company’s breakthrough came in 1902, when they pioneered a gearless, traction electric lift, and installed the first system in 1903 to New York City’s Beaver Building and Chicago’s Majestic Building. Almost overnight, Otis Brothers & Co, rendered the hydraulic lift system obsolete and opened up a whole new world for architects.

Between 1906 and 1912, there was a dramatic change in the architectural skyline in cities around the world. Several buildings sprung up which were 46 stories and taller, including the Singer building and the Metropolitan Life Tower.

Enabling Skyscrapers

Undoubtedly, skyscrapers would never have been possible without the gearless traction lift. And although Otis can’t take total credit for the invention, he was instrumental in developing vertical transportation technology necessary to bringing lift into popular use.

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