Ever wondered what gave way to soaring imagination of architects? Would the modern day city’s skyline be the same if we did not have skyscrapers and high rise buildings? One of the inventions that have played an important role in modern day architecture is elevators. Imagine yourself climbing stairs to your apartment on 19th floor each time you want to go out. Yes, sounds like a good workout routine. Think again…and you would have a new found respect for elevators and its inventors. The need for elevators did not arise just yet to support modern architecture; it has been as old as our civilization. We have always looked for ways to lift things. Back in 3rd century, hoists operated by water wheels, humans and animals were used for the lifting purposes. This basic way of lifting continued till the dawn of the industrial revolution.

In old days when modes of transportation were not there, people used to walk to the places they wanted to reach. For transportation of goods, bullock carts, camels, horses, etc. were often used. All this was meeting the mobility requirements as the settlements were not too dispersed. With the rapid advancement in the development of tall building and public facilities, it became paramount to address the need to transportation of pedestrians and also of goods.  With multi-storeyed buildings or large shopping complexes or airports, it is unreasonable to expect the user to travel across the buildings/ public facilities by means of walking alone, at least not in a timely manner. Towards this end, innovations sprung up facilitating movement of pedestrians as well as goods in large shopping malls, multi-storeyed residential buildings, airports and other public facilities.