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Stationary Elevator

Move the building instead.
  (+13, -3)(+13, -3)
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Picture this: You get in the elevator-- The building moves to the floor you want get off, building moves back to the normal position. It would give all the people in the building changing views, and make people using the elevator feel powerful.

This was not my idea. Some guy named dave at my office made it up.

futurebird, Jul 27 2001

Mexican Wave Buildings Mexican_20Wavey_20Buildings
[MikeyTheBikey, May 09 2005]

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       Will the building be able to heft its full length less a floor into the air, or will the shaft go the same distance underground? What will be done with whiners who request a second elevator to cut down on wait times?
Monkfish, Jul 27 2001
  

       If you need two elevators the building can be split into sections and then each can move independently. When they aren't moving you can walk from floor to floor.   

       Yes, the building would need to go below ground at times. but there can be murals painted there so it won't be so bad...
futurebird, Jul 28 2001
  

       Turbolifts in Star Trek go sideways and forward and back.   

       This was halfbaked in a cartoon...press a button and the second floor comes downstairs...but everything on the first floor is flattened.
StarChaser, Jul 28 2001
  

       You could also have a Stationery Elevator for moving reams of paper from floor to floor but that's not nearly as interesting. I'll donate a bit of bakery goodness just for the whackologicity of the idea.
Dog Ed, Jul 28 2001
  

       Just think about how cool a city of these buildings would look-- all of them ... moving up and down.   

       Rods Tiger: I was thinking about saying something about routing-- you know when more than one person gets in the elevator to find the best way to move the two sections of the building so everyone gets where they need to go-- but it gave me a headache.
futurebird, Jul 29 2001
  

       To a certain extent, this idea is half-baked in the film 'The Cube'. That the movement of the building is confined to discreet sections ('rooms') is probably the only way to address the more-than-one-elevator problem.
synaesthesia, Apr 23 2002
  

       Marineville Alert!
DrBob, Apr 23 2002
  

       This is a sign of the height of egocentrism: "i want to go to the seventieth floor, so instead of moving my mere 200 lbs, let's move several tons of building instead." the extra janitorial fees due to widespread motion sickness might pose a problem.
efarns, Apr 23 2002
  

       so whats the big problem with that then, efarns?
po, Apr 23 2002
  

       I've read that this actually is how buildings work in some countries. You press the button for the 17th floor, and the building comes down. This is similar to the scientific experiment in my country, where we are checking whether driving on the left side of the road is a good idea. But it is confined only to busses cabs and trucks. That is the reason you see so many of those driving head on at you.
pashute, May 08 2005
  

       Actually, that's how elevators work in our town. But we had a big problem with motion sickness, so there's now a statute prohibiting buildings with more than one floor. Now you get in the elevator which remains absolutely stationary, and then get out onto the floor you need. Nobody gets building-sick any more, and all the offices have the same view - much more democratic.   

       Don't see how the bus thing is going to work, though...
moomintroll, May 08 2005
  

       This could work with my idea for Mexican Wave buildings. (See link).
MikeyTheBikey, May 09 2005
  


 

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