Architects don’t read. They look at pictures, and in their work, they like to see themselves as semanticists who translate their concepts into architectural, built images. Often, though, planners know little about the motifs they use. This essay will seek to show the images that have determined the character of the lift in the course of its history. New York is booming. The first steel skeleton-frame buildings are being erected to allow a maximum exploitation of site areas; but the height of buildings is limited: who would want to climb ten storeys to reach his workplace? Elisha Graves Otis is a manufacturer of steel springs. His own place of production consists of a number of working levels stacked on top of each other. A platform hoist is used for transporting goods and workers between the various floors. A cable breaks: the platform plunges downwards, and the employees suffer injuries.