Dr. Lee Gray
Dr. Lee Gray, professor of Architectural History and senior associate dean of the College of Arts + Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has written more than 200 monthly articles on the history of vertical transportation (VT) for ELEVATOR WORLD since 2003. He is also the author of From Ascending Rooms to Express Elevators: A History of the Passenger Elevator in the 19th Century. He also serves as curator of theelevatormuseum.org, created by Elevator World, Inc.
Rope-Drive Elevators
Otis’ turn-of-the-20th-century designs for a unique elevator drive shaped the modern traction elevator. The invention of new elevator systems has often followed a distinct developmental trajectory: inventors pursue a main...
The Early History of Cable-less Elevator Systems
Early designs for cable-less, self-propelled, multicar elevator systems that inspired such designs as the MULTI Not long after the official announcement of ThyssenKrupp’s MULTI system (“A Paternoster for the Future,”...
What Might Have Been
David L. Lindquist’s radical Empire State Building elevatoring design could have altered the course of vertical-transportation planning in the 20th century. The January 1931 issue of Architectural Forum included an...
Moffatt Machinery Manufacturing Co.
Self-sufficient Charlotte, N.C., company possessed remarkable business model. One of the most familiar sayings about curiosity reminds us that the last place we tend to look for something interesting is...
Heurtebise Elevator Construction Co.
A unique glimpse into the world of 19th-century French elevator manufacturing Between 1876 and 1885, the French publication Les Grandes Usines: Études Industrielles en France et a L’étranger published detailed...
Early Machine-Room-Less Elevators
A brief history of the beginnings of the groundbreaking machine-room-less (MRL) elevator Perhaps the most difficult kind of history to write is a history of contemporary events. Beyond the obvious...
Early Electric Elevator Controllers, Part Two
Continued examination of a 1913 elevator catalog explains the technical operation of controllers, accessories and safeties, and sheds new light on the role of the elevator operator. In 1913, Cutler-Hammer...
Early Electric Elevator Controllers, Part One
The first of a two-article series on Cutler-Hammer’s 1913 catalog bulletins that offer a unique glimpse into the world of early electric elevator controllers The inventors of the electric elevator...
“Elevators That Side-Step”
Unique turn-of-the-20th-century horizontally shifting elevators saw use in the Boston subway. The May 15, 1906, edition of the Street Railway Review included an article titled “The Atlantic Street Station of...
13th Annual CTBUH Awards Symposium
“Best Tall Building,” other awards announced. The 13th Annual Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Awards Symposium occurred on November 6, 2014, on the campus of the Illinois...
