New York City’s Sperone Westwater Gallery, designed by Norman Foster, recently moved into its new eight-story Bowery location and has a surprise in store for visitors. One of the building’s key features is a 12 x 20-foot Otis Elevator Co. hydraulic freight elevator that has been designed to act as a moving art gallery. Visible from the street through the building’s glass façade, the “Ferrari red” elevator is positioned over the lobby entrance. Step inside, look straight up and you’ll realize you’re standing directly below the elevator. Luckily, it doesn’t go to the ground floor.
With a maximum capacity of 240 passengers, the elevator connects the five floors that display art. The “moving room” offers visitors an engaging way of accessing other floors and can be anchored at any floor to provide extra exhibition space. When anchored, patrons instead use a stairway or more conventional passenger elevator. The building is also equipped with an additional 9 x 5 1/2-ft freight elevator with an 8000-lb. load capacity.
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