In 1853, at the New York World Expo, a man climbed onto a suspended platform and ordered the rope supporting it to be cut. He dropped a few inches, but the safety system activated, and the platform remained stable, to the delight of the watching crowd. At that moment, perhaps not even Elisha Graves Otis realized how his invention would permanently change the course of architecture.
With the invention of the elevator, the sky became the limit, and buildings of 7 to 10 stories began to appear. Mosette Broderick, Director of Architectural and Urban Studies at New York University, explains that the Equitable Life Assurance Building that opened in 1870 with seven stories inspired both fascination and fear.
