Heightened Awareness

Our ancestors lived their lives pretty much horizontally, their vertical ambitions limited by the human capacity to climb stairs. Until, that is, Elisha Graves Otis invented the modern elevator. March 23, 2007, marks the 150th anniversary of Otis' installation of the first commercial passenger elevator at New York City's E.V. Haughwout & Co. department store on Broadway and Broome Streets (see <www.otis150.com>). It took shoppers skyward at the then-astonishing speed of 40 feet per minute, while elevating our ancestors' architectural aspirations.