Bernard, Andreas

Lifted: A Cultural History of the Elevator - New York New York University Press 2014 - 309 ‎ 5.98 x 0.88 x 9.02 inches

In this elegant and fascinating book, Andreas Bernard explores how the appearance of this new element changed notions of verticality and urban space. Transforming such landmarks as the Waldorf-Astoria and Ritz Tower in New York, he traces how the elevator quickly took hold in large American cities while gaining much slower acceptance in European cities like Paris and Berlin. Combining technological and architectural history with the literary and cinematic, Bernard opens up new ways of looking at the elevator--as a secular confessional when stalled between floors or as a recurring space in which couples fall in love. Rising upwards through modernity, Lifted takes the reader on a compelling ride through the history of the elevator.

9780814787168


Architecture
Cultural history
Elevator
Elevators history
History

ARCH / BER