For the first few discussions, we will only talk about domestic news. This time, joining us will be BTV Radio 6g, and our two guests Counterweight and Cabin, who will be guiding us through the whole wide world, uncovering many interesting surprises.

Value of an ascending room

Radio 6g: Hello June! Today, we will welcome the first month of summer with some interesting facts about our main character, the elevator!

Counterweight: Dear friends, before the elevator, the top floors of buildings, especially high-rises, were not at all appealing. Andreas Bernard, author of “Lifted: A cultural History of the Elevator”, said that before elevators, attics were spaces for the poor that no one wanted to own.

In Europe at the time, the top floor of a building was considered not worth living in, and contained as many dangers as the basement. Since the invention of the elevator, everything has changed, the attic suddenly became an interesting, romantic and even expensive space, and thus, the penthouse was born. Elevators have raised the value of rooms, especially those on higher floors.

Radio 6g: Oh, what interesting information! What would Mr. Cabin like to contribute to this topic?

Cabin: Did you know, as of now, there are still people asking me about the first place to install an elevator both in Vietnam and across the world. I know Elevator Magazine has put in a lot of effort to investigate the history of elevators in Vietnam. As for the world, as far as I know, the first buildings to have an elevator are all large hotels in cities such as New York (US), London (UK) and Paris (French). The first hotel to install a passenger lift is the Fifth Avenue in New York (US). The hotel was opened in 1859 and was designed specifically to integrate an elevator. As far as I know, elevators at the time were considered “luxury goods” to help visitors from having to climb stairs.

Illustration of an elevator in the Lord and Taylor Department Store, Manhattan, America in 1873

Radio 6g: But elevators weren’t called elevators at first, were they?

Counterweight: Yes, Radio 6g. The Langham Hotel in central London (UK), which opened in 1865, is the first grand hotel in Europe. Its owners claimed that Langham was the first hotel in London to have hydraulic elevators. At the time, they were not called elevators, instead, the staff and guests called them “ascending rooms”.

Radio 6g: Ascending room, truly a name that not just anyone in the elevator industry would know. Do Mr. Cabin have any other interesting information?

Cabin: Dr. Lee Gray, an elevator expert from North Carolina University, said the design of the first elevators were very particular. “Each cabin would contain a beautifully upholstered bench. Many would have beautiful wooden furniture, mirrors, and gas chandeliers hanging in the centers”. There would be an operator responsible for opening and closing the door, and moving the elevator up or down slowly. Speed was not an issue for elevators then, guests were there to be pampered!

Gathering place of the elite

Radio 6g: During a field trip, a Vietnamese elevator expert discussed and commented that at first, the elevator was a gathering place for the European elite.

Counterweight: Exactly, Dr. Sean Williams from Sheffield University said: “In the early 20^th century, people became aware that stepping out of an elevator is like stepping into society, therefore, you must look your best”. Even the sound of the bells on elevator doors had the effect of attracting the attention of passerby!

There were many articles and handbooks, including one for men, trying to convey the proper clothing and behavior when entering a hotel lobby. Dr. Williams even said: “An elevator arriving at the lobby floor was like a curtain rising on a social stage”.

Cabin: I would also like to share that nowadays, elevators have become a common device, however, there are still luxury elevators that only the wealthy, or even extremely wealthy, can use. If you book a penthouse suite in the Langham hotel (London, UK), you will have 6 bedrooms, a floor area of 450m2, a grand piano, exclusive staff waiting on you 24/7, a personal elevator and the right to use a private chef. The highest price for a Sterling suite is about 24.000 pounds per day and night. As for the Langham’s elevators, they truly are works of art.

Radio 6g: I’m still curious how people operated the first elevator, Mr. Cabin? Was it the same as what we do today?

Cabin: I must say, in the early days of elevators, the job of elevator operator required a lot of skill. All first generation elevators were controlled using ropes. The operator had to stop pulling before the elevator reached the desired floor, because the cabin would keep moving vertically.

This required the operator to be experienced enough to know when to pull and to stop so that the cabin would glide precisely to the desired destination. In Germany, before World War I, if you wanted to be an elevator operator, you had to be trained for 3 years. That’s 3 years, my friend, it’s not easy!

Radio 6g: So elevator buttons must have been quite a big invention, right?

Counterweight: “Yes, if the elevator is an important invention for the urban development process, then its buttons are one of the most interesting invention in modern life”, said Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hong Thai (University of Transport and Communication) in one of our discussions on this subject.

Elevator buttons were invented in the early 20^th century and were finally established in the 1920s in Europe. Although small, these buttons have truly put the control of elevators in the hands of the passengers themselves, and effectively ended the era of the costly to train, stressful and accident-prone job of elevator operator.

Elevator operators in William Taylor Department Store in 1961

The near future of elevators

Radio 6g: But would there be a height limit for elevators?

Counterweight: As far as I know, the tallest building in the world right now is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The elevator going up to the 163^rd floor is 504m high. With a height of 828m and 163 floors, Burj Khalifa is not only the tallest building in the world but also holds many impressive records such as highest observation deck, fastest elevator and tallest man-made structure.

With our current level of technology, it can be said that we’ve hit a ceiling. Standard elevators cannot travel more than 500m, as the weight of their own cables became too much. There is a point where the cables became so heavy that they break under their own weight.

Cabin: We will have to wait for the next advancement in science and technology to breakthrough this limit, and I think that advancement is coming very soon.

Radio 6g: Ladies and gentlemen, in just over one hour, we have talked about 9 interesting facts on elevators. Can we end this conversation with another new piece of information?

Counterweight: (laughs) I would like to give this honor to Professor Cabin, you just talked about a height limit, could there also be a limit for the movement direction of elevators?

Cabin: The magazine is a forum for experts and practitioners of elevator, but I dare say: the height and even direction limit may soon be a thing of the past. Thyssenkrupp Elevator in Germany has developed a multi-directional elevator system called “MULTI” using electromagnetic technology. CEO Michael Cesarz explained that the cable-less elevators functioned using magnetic fields and AI.

“There is no height limit”, said Michael Cesarz, “We can travel one or two or three kilometers if we want, which is impossible with cables”. A prototype has been installed in a tower in Rottweil, and the first building to install this revolutionary type of elevator is expected to be finished by the end of 2025.

Radio 6g: Thank you so much for an extremely interesting conversation, see you again very soon.