What’s one of the most boring, awkward and frustrating places you can think of? If you live in an apartment building or work in a high-rise, your answer is probably an elevator. As useful and as handy as they are, they do have their ‘ups and downs’ (ha, ha).
On an elevator, if you’ve got a top or bottom floor destination, get ready for a long and boring ride. If you’re stuck with a handful of people in there who you know, but don’t really talk to, get ready for a long and awkward ride. This all sucks but count your blessings, because what sucks even more is having an elevator that never comes or is always out of service.
Dealing with elevators can be a real pain. I guess that’s why these 20 designers decided to spice theirs up a bit. Check out these interesting rides!
1) This long-term care facility for the elderly brightened up their elevators with a mural. Their goal was to cause patients less anxiety and prevent them from trying to sneak away. The clever painting appears as if you’re in a cozy home.
2) Stepping inside this elevator is like entering a beautiful winter wonderland. Try not to ruin the snow angel and bundle up! Keep an eye out for Frosty and Rudolph, I’m sure they’re in there somewhere.
3) Now this concept would work perfectly for a stressful office building. Need to blow off some steam? Step your way into the elevator and take a good kick at the buttons to get to your floor.
4) Clearly, these elevator designers were thinking ahead. This extra alarm button is located close to the floor for extra access. It’s meant for those who might be on the ground unable to get up, like in a medical emergency for example.
5) Hold your breath, you’re going under! This elevator in Berlin, Germany takes riders on a quick underwater adventure through a giant aquarium. Who would want to take the stairs when you could be hanging with the fishies?
6) It can be super frustrating when you live or work in a high-rise building and the elevator is out of service. This building decided to give their customers a laugh to alleviate some of the irritation. Yoga in an elevator? Sounds like a new trend.
7) If you’re in New York City and decide to do the World Trade Centre tour, this is the interesting ride you’ll be taking. Across the walls of the elevator, a screen virtually demonstrates the architectural evolution of the city.
8) This digital signage gives you a visual as to how close the elevator is to reaching its weight capacity. Smart? Yes. But, isn’t that kind of like revealing your weight to an entire audience? No thank you, I’ll take the stairs.
9) An impatient person’s dream! This call button is located 30 feet away from the actual elevator. The idea is when you hit the button, the doors should already be open by the time you walk over.
10) You know when you’ve had one of those weeks and you can’t even remember what day it is? Well, this hotel in Ukraine has solved the issue. They change their elevator rugs every morning to let riders know what day of the week it is.
11) This cute button panel at a children’s hospital gives kids fun colours and animals to look at while they’re on the elevator. However, one Reddit user commented that this might not work out as planned, ‘I can see a kid (my nephew, for instance) arguing that he wants to push the GREEN button, but we really need the pink floor.’ Touche.
12) We live in a world where people are starting to become more conscious of their health and environment. This elevator sign gives a friendly reminder that the stairs are a better choice for our bodies and planet, only if you’re able to use them, of course.
13) While elevator rides are really only a few minutes long at maximum, I guess having the option to sit would be nice. This bench looks long enough for one to even take a quick power nap. Just don’t miss your floor!
14) Going down, or going up? This 3D floor painting takes things to a heart-jumping new level. Is this a clever ploy to get people to use the stairs? Or just a prank to give people heart attacks as they step into the elevator?
15) It feels like you’re stepping into the next century when you see these elevators at the Mercedes Benz museum in Germany. The futuristic building gives you enough to awe over, I wonder how cool the exhibits are.
16) It took me a minute to figure out what was so cool about this elevator—except for the fact that it’s marble and beautiful. If you look at it for a few seconds, you can see an owl’s face. The floor number ‘1’ is the eyes, the marble design outlines its body, and then it’s mirrored with the elevator door.
17) Need to get out, but can’t decide where to go? Well, then I guess this shuffle button would work perfectly for you. I don’t see exactly how practical this option is, but it could turn into a fun game.
18) This Miami hotel elevator makes you feel like you’re taking a rocket ship to the moon. If you want to go on a serious “trip” (in more ways than one) hop on in. I think I’d be spending most of my time in here instead of the room.
19) So…like…are you supposed to sit in the elevator with the balloons? Or are they just supposed to be for decoration? I can see a bunch of things wrong with this concept, but it does look pretty cool, I guess.
20) I don’t know if this one is neat or just odd. This elevator looks like a grungy old shower. I wouldn’t be surprised if that thing opened up one day to reveal someone in there with tile cleaner and a sponge.
