An artist's impression of a high-rise building using the Multi system that does away with the need for a central shaft block

The design of skyscrapers could be transformed by a cable-free elevator which is powered by magnets and moves horizontally as well as vertically.

Hailing its design as the “holy grail of the elevator industry”, ThyssenKrupp, the German steel and technology conglomerate, said its Multi system would allow multiple lifts to use the same shaft and dispense with safety cables altogether. 

Lifts have functioned in much the same way for decades – a single elevator car moving up and down in a shaft using guide rails, a counterweight and a cable. 

Today's lift manufacturers are under pressure to overhaul the traditional design to allow for the construction of taller and more creative buildings. Lifts limit the height of skyscrapers partly because the taller the building, the more shafts are needed for greater numbers of people, taking up valuable floor space.....Continue Reading

> via ft.com