Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp announced the installation of the world’s fastest passenger elevator just exactly where it is needed - in Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building. The elevator runs at a top speed of 1,010 meters per minute when ascending (600 meters per minute on the way down), which works out ot 60.6 kilometers per hour.

And it’s official; Guiness has certified it for the 2006 edition. Elevator technology is more important than it looks; the invention of the safety elevator by Elisha Otis in 1857 and the subsequent introduction of the gearless traction electric elevator in 1903 allowed designers to create high-rise buildings that people would actually use.

Taipai 101 gets its groove on, January 1, 2005. The structure boasts some of the world’s fastest elevators. They travel 1,010 meters (3,333 feet) a minute and can go from the fifth floor to the 89th floor in 39 seconds. (AP Photo/Taipei 101, HO)

The world’s fastest elevator offers the following new technologies:

* The world’s first pressure control system, which adjusts the atmospheric pressure inside a car by using suction and discharge blowers, preventing those riding inside the car experiencing ‘ear popping’