Supertall Towers Are Driving an Elevator Revolution

Two thousand years ago, the Romans used elevators—powered by pulleys, levers, and slaves—to raise gladiators and wild beasts into the Colosseum for death-match spectacles. Since then, elevator technology has been largely based on the same mechanics, with electricity-propelled cables, rather than teams of rope-hauling humans, providing the lift. These days, however, an engineering revolution is going on. Driven by a boom in megatowers the Romans could not have imagined, the global giants that dominate the industry are engaged in technological one-upmanship.

Real estate developers are on pace to build 187 towers soaring at least 250 meters (820 feet, or almost the length of three football fields) over the next two years. That’s triple the number of such megatowers built in the entire 20th century. It’s forcing companies such as Kone, Thyssenkrupp, and Otis Elevator to reach higher than ever in search of their next breakthrough.