At first known as the ascending room, the word lift or elevator was in general use by the 1860's and was finally adopted in 1867 by the Frenchman, Leon Edoux, when two of his giant hydraulic lifts were the showpiece of the Paris exhibition in the same year. The twentieth century started with the Paris exhibition of 1900, the Otis lift on display contained push-button mechanisms for the first time and was quickly followed by the first "gearless" drive lifts in 1903, one of the major new developments in technology that accompanied the proliferation of high rise building. The first skyscrapers, built in Chicago and new York looked like exaggerated versions of familiar buildings. Architects were initially reluctant to acknowledge the revolution brought about by steel frames and reinforced concrete, the techniques and materials that brought theArchitect and engineer together again after a 300 year separation. From the beginning of the twentieth century the system of wire cables to control the movement of lifts began to be improved; the attendant or lift boy controlled the ascent and descent by means of a car switch. However in 1924 Westinghouse introduced a "full automatic control" whereby the

attendant had merely to close the lift gates and the rest would be done automatically. Modern style high rise, fully automatic control lifts with powered doors were first installed in the Atlantic Refinery building, Dallas in 1950 and the public soon became used to the idea of doing without the familiar lift attendant. The advent of microprocessor has now transformed the whole basis of lift technology. These advanced systems are designed to meet the most sophisticated demands of high rise buildings and building services. Modern drive and control logic systems are designed to be reliable, energy efficient and make possible up to 30% reductions in the use of power, whilst changes in domestic and international standards have made lifts the safest form of mass passenger travel available.