Uma visão global

Começamos o novo ano apresentando nossos 27th anual Project of the Year winners, providing a good picture of how commercial building is progressing around the world and exactly how the vertical-transportation (VT) industry adds to that picture. Projects span the world, come in all sizes and, in many cases, the VT equipment contributes to the sustainability of the buildings they are in. Based on creativity, innovation, challenges overcome, installation methods and use of Advanced Technology, judging was intense. Some VT equipment is in very old buildings, like London's Big Ben, and must not affect the historical value of the building. Other projects create "another world" atmosphere by inserting an escalator into an aquarium of regional marine life in the new Terminal de cruzeiros Grand Cruise Terminal no Porto de DohaOs desafios incluíam a modernização dos elevadores em um prédio totalmente ocupado e com grande fluxo de pessoas — Torre Prudencial Em Boston. Um edifício incomum em Dubai (uma cidade repleta de edifícios incomuns) conhecido como One Za'abeel Na verdade, trata-se de duas torres verticais com um edifício horizontal que as conecta e atravessa uma rodovia interestadual. Os desafios incluíram poços de transmissão com formatos e tamanhos diferentes do topo à base. Ponte suspensa, Aeroporto Internacional de Hong Kong, is the longest airside bridge and moving walk with room for airplanes to go under. In Australia's A Esplanada, um projeto residencial de luxo exigiu um elevador e um poço de vidro com controle de temperatura. Na França, o Plataforma elevatória para saltos ornamentais nos Jogos Olímpicos de Paris A estrutura precisava ser corretamente rígida e elevar-se de 1 m para 2 ou 3 m para diferentes eventos. O elevador inclinado em Adega e trattoria Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Em Cottonwood, Arizona, EUA, teve que escalar e chegar ao topo da colina mais alta da região. Por último, mas certamente não menos importante, está o Linha 2 do Metrô de Chongqing that required in-truss modernization of 85 escalators in mountainous terrain in China. When all is said and done, we have slightly more than 50 pages devoted to the best of the best projects completed in the last two years, the scope allowed for this year's submissions. It is a great way to start a new year.

Olhando um pouco para trás, no final de 2024, participamos de dois grandes eventos do setor. Sol, surf e um simpósio by Angie C. Baldwin reports on the latest International Elevator & Escalator Symposium, which focused on the theme of "Consolidation and Globalization's Impact on Maintenance and Safety." The intimate, very international event took place at the Atlantis resort in The Bahamas and was a crowd pleaser. ISEE 2024 by Vijay Pandya reports on that event's second iteration, which was held in Mumbai and reinforced India's position as a global hub for innovation and sourcing.

Also in this issue, we spotlight major projects developing in Dubai and Cairo. We talk with Sicor Italy's Commercial Director Enrico Giroldini about the company's vision for the future and explore AI in VT with the help of ELFIN Technology's latest article on the topic. There is much more packed into this first issue of the year, and we hope you enjoy it.