Effectively using the same magnetic levitation technologies employed in high-speed trains, the MULTI elevator system conveys people horizontally as well as vertically without ropes and at record speeds, all while allowing multiple cars to traverse the same shafts.

Allowing fast vertical interior transit, the elevator has already revolutionized the shape of cities once – this breakthrough may enable a new version to do it again, not only cutting down on wait and travel times but also by enabling versatile sideways travel through structures. As illustrated above, a single car can go both up or down and then left or right, moving in a three-dimensional fashion within (and eventually perhaps even beyond) a given building. Imagine for a moment the trans-building possibilities: hop in a car, speed down a building and hook into an urban network running above, along or below the streets as well.

The creator of the MULTI, ThyssenKrupp AG, expects to have a fully-functional prototype by the end of 2016 (full-scale usage by 2018) with cars capable of moving at speeds of up to 16 feet per second when unoccupied. Combined, the various advantages of this system will increase elevator capacity in a given building by as much as 50% and help reduce the amount of space required  – currently, as much as 40% of a building’s footprint is occupied with traditional elevator deployments.

Whether through looping systems (like the one proposed above by Hitachi) or maglev technologies or, most likely, a combination of the two, the “days of one cabin, in one shaft on one rope traveling up and down” which “hasn’t changed for 160 years” are soon to be over. Imagine the possibilities for architects and engineers no longer constrained to simply building up but now free to build out in fresh new ways as well. Of course, Star Trek turbolifts aside, there are always some potential dark sides to new technology, as science fiction films like The Cube and Cabin in the Woods have explored, but presumably the ups outweigh the downs, so to speak.

Looking like a bookshop flipped ninety degrees, this coffee shop stands out even in Manhattan, a world of off-the-wall spaces and strange conceptual designs.

This new location for D’espresso was crated by Nemaworkshop, “a team of architects, designers and thinkers who create spaces which are conceptually bold yet highly sensitive to cultural and social contexts.”

Referencing the historical combination of cafes and bookstores as well as the nearby New York Public Library, the book photographs wrapping the floor, back wall and ceiling above become conversation pieces as well as a wraparound backdrop for sipping lattes. Meanwhile, the ‘floor’ on the left wall provides a backdrop for seating and contrasts with the functional ‘ceiling’ lighting on the right, which illuminates and differentiates the service space behind the counter.

About Nemaworkshop: “The studio approaches projects through research and collaborative brainstorming wherein ideas are discussed and reworked until a team emerges with a single cohesive concept.” Like its results, “the process is a non-linear approach, adhering to the conviction that good ideas can come from unlikely places. Ultimately, the designs challenge architectural typologies, demonstrate acute cultural awareness and propose original spatial concepts.

About this particular project itself, the designers write: “The client approached nemaworkshop with a single espresso bar existing and the ambition to build an espresso empire. For the location for the second shop, on Madison and backs up to Grand Central Terminal, Nemaworkshop and the client agreed that the design needed to be immediately striking to the goal-oriented suits and wandering tourists alike.”

At first: vertigo. You are moving along the sidewalk, when suddenly you see the front of a structure, only on its side, extruded from the ground below you. But then you look up, and realize you are part of some surreal and magical.

Via TIC, “Bâtiment (Building) is a mirrored installation by artist Leandro Erlichcurrently on display at Le 104 in Paris as part of their In_Perceptions exhibition. The piece is clever in its simplicity: a massive building facade is constructed on the floor near a towering mirror giving anyone reflected the uncanny appearance of being weightless.“

His similarly-stunning pool installation is another great optical illusion for those above or below the faux surface of the water, either looking down on participants who, by rights, should be swimming (if not drowning), or looking up through the shimmering reflective surface.