No Strings Attached

In the good ol’ days of Ancient Rome, where all men wore sandals and togas, the first elevator was imagined by Roman architect, Vitruvius.

A pulley lifting device with ropes and frames, the elevator has evolved over the centuries from these earlier designs to quite impressive machines with intricate cogs and wires. Fast forward to 2016 and elevators have evolved tremendously since then. The multinational tech conglomeration, ThyssenKrupp, came up with the out-of-this-world idea of the world first ropeless elevator. Named MULTI, the coolest thing about this concept idea is that it doesn’t just go up and down, but it also goes horizontally too. The elevators will use zero ropes and a magnetic levitation system instead, like that of the Maglev train, where two set of magnets will be used to repel and two to push.

It’ll work something like a motorway with two lanes of four cabins per shaft. When one of the pods gets to the top, a turntable allows the lifts to slide off to the side to make a full circuit by dropping down the opposite side of the building.

The idea is a very sustainable one for buildings, as it will increase passenger numbers which will reduce space thanks to the removal of its ropes and motors. The cabins and cabin doors are planned to being made by new and lightweight carbon-composite materials. Hopefully this idea will start popping up in the next couple of years. A cool idea on multiple levels!