With just a single press of a button, an elevator can take you several feet up or down in a building. It is one of the best application of Newton’s First Law of Motion. Apart from making us all a little dizzy while going up or down in a building, elevators really have made our lives easier. Once established, designers started putting creativity into the designs and turned these metal boxes into beautiful and unique pieces of attraction.
This list shows some of the beautiful and uniquely designed elevators that truly show that to move up and down, you don’t necessarily need to be inside an enclosed metal box. From an elevator that moves through the aquarium to the world’s only bicycle elevator, have a look at some really incredibly designed elevators.
Santa Justa Lift Portugal
This lift is created in the city of Lisbon at Santa Justa Street and connects downtown streets with the Carmo Square situated uphill. It was designed by Raul Mesnier de Ponsard in 1990. The 45-meters tall lift was initially powered by steam first and was shifted to electrical later on in 1907. The lift gives a great view of Lisbon Castle, the Rossio Square and Baixa from the top. The unique thing about this lift is the neo-gothic design that has various patterns on each story. It has two elevator booths and can accommodate 24 people easily. It is one the famous tourist attraction in Lisbon.
The Gateway Arch Missouri
This 630-foot Gateway Arch is situated in St. Louis, Missouri. It was designed by architect Eero Saarinen in 1947. It has windows for observation around the apex. To reach there, people enter in an egg-shaped compartment with a flat floor. It has 8 compartments that join together to form a train. Each of them rotates every 5 degrees to maintain correct orientation. The train takes 4-minutes to follow the curved tracks of the arch to reach the top and then takes another three minutes to come down. There are glass panels on each compartment to give the passengers the view of interior stairways and the arch structure.
Hammetschwand Elevator Switzerland
This is Europe’s highest external elevator situated in Switzerland. It was built in 1905 and can take its passengers to 3700 foot above the sea level for a beautiful view of Lake Lucerne. The elevator was made up of wood and sheet metal. But following the modern era, it was later replaced with high-strength metal and glass. The speed was also increased so now it takes one minute to reach the top. The top of the lift gives beautiful views in Swiss Alps.
Lacerda Elevator Brazil
It connects the old and new part of Salvador with four elevators and can move at a speed of 72m in 30 seconds. It was built in 1868 and replaced the manual rope-and-pulley elevator. The lift provides access to more than 30,000 people per day to travel between Cidade Alta and Comercio. It also gives a nice scenic view while serving as a means of transportation.
Taipei 101 Taiwan
It is a 101-story building and consists of 67 elevators. Each elevator moves at a speed of 1010 meters per minute. For a person to reach the 89th floor from the 5th floor, it will only take 37 seconds with this speed. It was the world’s finest lift but its record was later broken by NexWay lift that was installed in Shanghai Tower in China that moves at a high speed of 73.8km/hour.
Bailong Elevator China
It is also known as the Hundred Dragons Elevator. This lift takes the passengers to the top of cliffs in Zhangjiajie in China. Not only it is the most popular tourist destination but it has also set three world records for being world’s tallest full-exposure outdoor elevator, tallest double-deck sight-seeing elevator, and fastest passenger traffic elevator with highest carrying capacity. The lift can carry 50 people at once and gives a splendid view of the mountains.
Louvre Elevator France
It is situated in the Museum of Paris and is a unique elevator in the world that is powered by hydraulics. Its design gives a smooth ride to guests while entering or exiting the museum. The circular platform uses hydraulic power and the guests can get off to the walkway when the platform stops moving.
The Luxor Hotel Elevator USA
The hotel is located in Las Vegas and has a pyramid shaped construction. It has a unique set of elevators that inclined at a 39-degree angle. The lift gives the visitors a view of its atrium-one which is also the largest in the world.
AquaDom Germany
It is located at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin-Mitte, Germany. The elevator is transparent and is placed in the middle of an 82-foot tall aquarium. The aquarium contains more than 1500 fish from 97 different species. The fishes are fed by three to four divers every day and they consume about 18 pounds of food each day. AquaDom is the world’s largest cylindrical tank that is made up of acrylic glass and has about 260,000 gallons of water inside.
Rising Tide Elevator, MS Oasis of the Seas
This elevator is built inside the largest cruise ship in the world named, the MS Oasis of the Seas. It has the only bar-elevator combo in the world as well. It can carry up to 35 passengers at a time and can take them to the Royal Promenade from ship’s Central Park deck. It is almost an 8-minutes ride.
Globen Skyview Sweden
It is a very famous tourist attraction and takes passengers to the top of the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm. Ericsson Globe is the world’s largest spherical building. The sphere has a height of 279-feet with a diameter of 361-feet. The exterior has two Skyview glass gondolas that give a very spectacular view of the city during a 30-minutes trip.
Mercedes-Benz Museum Germany
The Museum is in Stuttgart house and is one of the most remarkable elevators in the world. The elevator pods in the central museum hall on the verticle rails look like large metal capsules that are connected to the ground floor to the last floor of the museum. These elevators are also produce racing car sound while going up or down in the building.
Trampe Bicycle Lift Norway
It is the world’s first and only bicycle elevator built in Trondheim Norway. It was built in 1993 to promote commuter cycling and works by placing right foot on the moving footrest. The lift goes up on the steep hill at Brubakken near Gamle Bybro. It takes the cyclist to the Kristiansten Fort. Trampe is very famous among the students of Trondheim University who use it on a daily basis.
Falkirk Wheel Scotland
This is the only rotating boat lift in the world that transports boats between the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal in Falkirk, Scotland. It was opened in 2002. It is turned by using 10 hydraulic motors that complete one full spin in 8-minutes. The tubs on the opposite side of the wheel rotate at the same speed but in opposite direction. This keeps the level of the wheel spins maintained. The motors require only 30.6 horsepower to rotate the entire 600-ton apparatus.
The Multi Elevator System ThyssenKrupp
This is the world’s first rope-less, horizontal-verticle elevator system developed by ThyssenKrupp. It is installed in a purpose-built innovation test tower in Germany. The system of the elevator makes use of multiple magnetized cabins that operate up and down on the same shaft as well as sideways on an electromagnetic track. The exchange mechanisms are mounted using carbon-fiber bearings that enable the cars to change their direction from verticle to horizontal with ease.