Glass curtain wall
Muro cortina de vidrio
- Date
- 1911 · confidence high
- Place
- Alfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Credited to
- Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A glazed façade that hangs in front of the structure rather than bearing load, with corners that have no visible support. The frame holds the building up and the skin merely encloses it, changing the form of offices and factories.
The Hallidie Building (San Francisco, 1918, Willis Polk) is often cited as the first full glass curtain wall in the US; the Fagus Factory (1911) is the first known example of glass corners free of supports.
What it led to
- glass skyscrapers such as Lever House
- the Bauhaus at Dessau (1926)
- ventilated façades and modular aluminium systems