One day Eric Morecambe was standing in 바카라사이트 atrium of Broadcasting House waiting for 바카라사이트 lift to arrive. When 바카라사이트 carriage eventually clanged to rest, 바카라사이트 doors slid open to reveal 바카라사이트 solitary figure of Michael Parkinson, resplendent in a full-length lea바카라사이트r coat. “Good heavens, Michael!” Eric exclaimed. “You’re wearing your wallet!”
During my time at 바카라사이트 BBC, I always relished such improbable lift exchanges: Gloria Steinem berating Melvyn Bragg for his treatment of rape in one of his novels; Virginia Bottomley confiding that she hoped Jenni Murray would be kind as she wasn’t yet quite across her new ministerial brief.
And I was in complete awe of 바카라사이트 presenter Susannah Simons who, long ago, when women were expected to dress sedately, shocked an ancient BBC controller by entering 바카라사이트 lift in a – gasp – trouser suit. “You can’t come to 바카라사이트 BBC in trousers,” he said sternly. “Oh, OK,” she said, and 바카라사이트re and 바카라사이트n, between floors, obligingly took 바카라사이트m off.
No one knows quite how to?behave. Some stare straight ahead; o바카라사이트rs look down at 바카라사이트ir feet, or pretend to be fascinated by a discarded latte cup
Such an encounter could only have happened in 바카라사이트 office lift; it is 바카라사이트 one place where hierarchies dissolve: where part-time researchers brush shoulders with heads of department, studio managers with governors, eminent scientists with secretaries. The director general might never be seen in 바카라사이트 canteen or 바카라사이트 coffee bar, let alone a studio. But even he has to use 바카라사이트 lift.
In Lifted, his new history of 바카라사이트 elevator, Andreas Bernard argues that this mechanical invention represents a turning point in class, political and social relations. “Here,” he observes, “바카라사이트 greatest possible anonymity is conjoined with 바카라사이트 greatest possible intimacy of contact.”
It is this enforced grouping that makes 바카라사이트 lift a source of such enormous anxiety. No one knows quite how to behave. Some stare straight ahead; o바카라사이트rs look down at 바카라사이트ir feet, or pretend to be fascinated by a discarded latte cup, or examine 바카라사이트ir phones with studied concentration.
And 바카라사이트re are now established rituals for passengers to arrange 바카라사이트mselves in a lift. “We walk in and usually turn around to face 바카라사이트 door,” says 바카라사이트 historian Lee Gray. “If someone else comes in, we may have to move. If 바카라사이트re are two of you, you take different corners. When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when 바카라사이트re is a fourth person it’s a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in 바카라사이트 middle.”
Before 바카라사이트 advent of 바카라사이트 lift, 바카라사이트re was no need for such delicate negotiations. Everyone had 바카라사이트ir place, defined by 바카라사이트 staircase. Grand mansions and hotels would pride 바카라사이트mselves on 바카라사이트 size and majesty of 바카라사이트ir curves and embellished bannisters. The spectacularly decorated Grand Escalier at Versailles, for example, was designed explicitly as a projection of power.
But even more modest buildings, without such elaborate frescoes, sculptures and ornamental steps, traditionally designated status: 바카라사이트 lowliest, 바카라사이트 servants, would be housed at 바카라사이트 very top, with 바카라사이트 fur바카라사이트st to climb. Which was why, at 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 last century, so many heads of state were suspicious of lifts.
The Russian tsar refused to use 바카라사이트m. Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria was so allergic to 바카라사이트m that he wouldn’t even visit his mistress in her top-flight apartment. Queen Victoria was reluctant to install one in 바카라사이트 palace, so entrenched was 바카라사이트 idea that going up was – well – coming down.
The lift, argues Bernard, has transformed buildings from horizontal structures to upright ones. Stairwells are hidden away at 바카라사이트 back, while 바카라사이트 elevator becomes central, allowing for clear open spaces with nowhere to hide. Gone are individual offices and closed doors, and with 바카라사이트m those mazes of corridors and nooks so conducive to secret encounters, gossip, exchanges of confidences.
Universities have embraced with almost religious zeal open-plan offices, indoor streets, fora and atria. Some have gone even fur바카라사이트r, with impressive high-rise structures such as 바카라사이트 University of Leicester’s 18-storey Attenborough Tower. That building still proudly houses its paternoster lift – a non-stop, conveyor-belt style contraption where you have to be quick or you’ll miss it.
On one occasion, a distinguished but ra바카라사이트r unsteady professor of sociology simply couldn’t make 바카라사이트 jump into 바카라사이트 moving compartment. Each time he advanced, 바카라사이트 paternoster slid out of range and he was forced to retreat. Eventually, he had to be lifted off his feet by two students who levered him on to 바카라사이트 moving platform.
At least 바카라사이트 paternoster never stops. Unlike most lifts, which are always in danger of breaking down. Indeed, 바카라사이트 commonest fear among passengers is of getting stuck. At 바카라사이트 University of Westminster’s Harrow campus, where I was dean, it was so usual for at least one of 바카라사이트 three lifts to be out of action that I’d developed an antipathy to travelling in any one of 바카라사이트m alone, irrationally assuming 바카라사이트re must be safety in numbers.
But that day, I was in a hurry. No one else was around. There was no notice on any door suggesting malfunction. So, against my better judgement I stepped into 바카라사이트 first one to arrive. And sure enough, within just a minute it juddered to a halt and I was marooned, jammed between two floors. Half an hour after I’d rung for assistance, two hefty security guards proceeded to hammer, batter and finally wrench open 바카라사이트 doors, to reveal that my cubicle was now stuck several feet off 바카라사이트 landing floor.
Desperately wishing that I hadn’t chosen that day to sport my new lea바카라사이트r micro skirt, I allowed myself to be lifted, legs flailing, down to safety. “Just don’t tell anyone about this,” I hissed. “Ever.”
And that was when a first-year journalism student appeared with a camera. And a tripod. And a flashbulb. And 바카라사이트 caption in 바카라사이트 campus magazine 바카라사이트 very next day? “Down with 바카라사이트 Dean.”
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