The elevator shaft was invented before the elevator
It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. At the Cooper Union Foundation Building in New York, there’s the world’s first elevator shaft: constructed four years before the safety elevator was invented. • Thanks to Prof. O’Donnell and all the team at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art: you can find out more about the building here: https://cooper.edu/about/history/foundation-building
Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif
@TomScottGo
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
If you're browsing YouTube in English (UK), then the title and description of this video will say "Lift": otherwise "Elevator". Unfortunately, I can't make the same changes to the video.
@jacobprentice2649
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
bowser is not gonna be happy about the koopa union
@groovygrover190
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
You can tell this is a 2019 NY video.
Progressive, radical and vague talk and references
@xSARGEx117x
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
4:45 insane amounts of heat and drought
@rainbowappleslice
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
You definitely don't get people like Peter cooper anymore
@profwaldone
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Its 6 years after this video came out and apearently the awenser was home offices. Rather than a temporary thing they have deffinitly stuck arround.
I will say the next big step needs to be single famly home sized apartments for apartment prices. Including space that can cover the function of a yard and garage.
We are currently dealing with a massive housing shortage, and even when the babyboomers are gone and that pressure has left. we should be demolishing entire districts to give land back to nature and increase the efficincy of our landuse.
At the same time lots of us cant live any smaller becouse we simply need the space at home rather then going to public librarys, schools and offices. Multi use spaces in our house are looking to not be good long term selutions.
@coreblaster6809
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
An 1850 architecture plan that fully incorporates the use of an elevator is definitely interesting
@thisisdylangreenberg
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Wow throwback, my high school graduation was at the Cooper Union auditorium
@CranialMalfunction
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
I cannot predict the future, but I can sum up some lessons from living 30+ years in different buildings:
1. Pre-fabbed timber frame kit houses can be assembled quickly, but they're bad in insulation, durability and maintainability. The best solution for residential houses would be an outer, load-bearing brick wall structure with an inner, thermal insulation wall (e.g. porous concrete blocks.
2. Plan with a lot of electrical outlets and LAN sockets in mind. Consider putting a NAS next to the router (which should have a fiber uplink).
3. Heating & plumbing should be planned smartly. The less piping you need, the better.
4. Avoid in-wall water tanks / toilet flushers. Maintaining those is a PITA. Use those water tanks to bolt to the wall, preferably the ones with a level top cover. They're easier to maintain & double as a small shelf.
4. Proper labelling. All Pipes & cables must be labelled correctly.
5. Each floor in a multistorey building needs an electric junction box / breaker box.
@Gestaltism
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Peter Cooper invented modern gelatin desert. He did a huge amount of stuff actually.
@g4rrett73
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
3:26
So back then they didn't know that everything goes in the square hole. neat.
@P7777-u7r
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
It's because "elevators" werent a new concept. The invention the world at the time was awaiting was one safe enough to be used for normal human travel rather than just for freight with an "acceptable" failure rate.
@mobilephil244
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Just goes to show what I aways think about people who confidently predict the future based upon science / common sense and economy: Human beings mess it up in ways you can't predict.
@albeit1
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Eventually buildings will have internal systems for moving packages to different units or offices.
Autonomous vehicles, that are expected, will connect to them through an external opening. Then the network will take the package to its destination.
@kingjames4886
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
legend has it tom scott wore a red shirt before the color red was invented.
@went2fast
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Where does the square shape go? …That's right, the square goes into the circle
@FenceThis
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
I prefer escalators or just stairs
@Pyhantaakka
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Elavator itself was invented in the ancient times. Colosseum had elavators to lift animals to the stage. They just needed people to operate.
@flautalee3090
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
This is why creative artists and engineers major in industrial design. ❤
@damianousley8833
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
He also installed a pidgeon rooster statue.
@artemisargent8623
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Cable tunnels and channels for all wiring, and seperate ones for information cabling so they can be replaced easily when technology advances
@jsfbr
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Cooper's prediction materialized centuries later when Starfleet engineers adopted cylindrical elevators for all starships.
@johnguilfoyle3073
August 29, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Interesting, though misleading.