Though we may take them for granted today, the advent of the elevator in the 19th Century transformed the way we live our lives.
Revolutionising building design, disrupting established conventions, shaping our cities and making our vertical world viable; elevator systems have continually helped engineers and designers raise the roof of structures; from the early skyscrapers of the 1800s to the incredible projects of today, that push the very limits of construction capability.
But what drove their original invention?
How did the first elevators work?
How have they evolved to support the extreme height of some of today's most impressive projects and how will they support the vertical cities of the future?
This is the story behind a relatively simple innovation that is continuing to shape our world.
With land more freely available and stairs as the only means of vertical access, there was little to drive the construction of high-rise structures before the 19th Century.
As such, tall buildings were largely limited to military and religious structures that used their height for strategic or ornamental purposes.
The upper levels of buildings were widely deemed to be undesirable, while lower levels — with easy street access and few stairs to climb — were the preferred domain of wealthy residents and businesses alike.
Additionally, the practice of building with external load-bearing walls caused structures to thicken at their bases as they grew taller, reducing floor area on these desirable lower levels.
