But given how amazing spiral escalators look, why aren’t there more of them? In truth, say Yuri Kudo and Tetsuyuki Yanase, both from the company’s Buildings Systems Group, most of the spiral...

Forgotten about for over 80 years, the spiral escalator was built in 1906 but quickly deemed to be unsafe, boarded up, and forgotten. By the time it was found, all that was left was a dusty heap of snaking drive chains and hulking slabs of rust.

Spiral-moving escalator, manufactured by just one Japanese company, makes the scenery before one’s eyes change like a panorama, allowing its riders to enjoy a distinctive feeling.

Spiral Escalators Look Cool, But Do They Make Sense? The Architectural League of New York supports critically transformative work in the allied fields that shape the built environment. As a vital, independent forum, the League stimulates thinking, debate, and action on today’s converging crises of racism, inequity, and climate change, in ...

Spiral escalators function based on the same principle as their straight counterparts but with an added twist—literally. The steps, while maintaining their horizontal position, follow a helical path, allowing the escalator to turn as it ascends or descends.