Contemporary

Curtain
Wall
Architecture
Contemporary
Curtain
Wall
Architecture

Scott Murray Princeton Architectural Press

New York
Contents

7 Introduction 81 Part III: Case Studies

83 Introduction
8 Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as Concept and
Construct 86 The New 42nd Street Studios
10 1: The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall Platt Byard Dovell White
24 2: Visions of a Transparent Future New York, New York, United States, 2000

30 3: The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 94 Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall

KieranTimberlake Associates
48 4: New Directions and New Priorities
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 2001
100 One Omotesando
64 Part II: Performance and Technique
Kengo Kuma and Associates
66 5: Curtain Wall System Design
Tokyo, Japan, 2003
74 6: Building Envelope As Selective Filter
106 William J. Clinton Presidential Center
Polshek Partnership Architects
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 2004
112 Green-Wood Mausoleum
Platt Byard Dovell White
Brooklyn, New York, United States, 2004
118 LVMH Osaka
Kengo Kuma and Associates
Osaka, Japan, 2004
126 Seattle Public Library
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
and LMN Architects
Seattle, Washington, United States, 2004
132 Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular
and Biomolecular Research
architectsAlliance and Behnisch Architekten
Toronto, Canada, 2005
140 Torre Agbar
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Barcelona, Spain, 2005
148 Torre Cube 222 United States Federal Building
Estudio Carme Pins Morphosis
Guadalajara, Mexico, 2005 San Francisco, California, United States, 2007
154 Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vison 230 Yale Sculpture Building
Neutelings Riedijk Architects KieranTimberlake Associates
Hilversum, the Netherlands, 2006 New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 2007
162 Skirkanich Hall 236 The Cathedral of Christ the Light
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 2006 Oakland, California, United States, 2008
168 Trutec Building 244 100 Eleventh Avenue
Barkow Leibinger Architekten Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Seoul, Korea, 2006 New York, New York, United States, 2009
176 Biomedical Science Research Building 250 166 Perry Street
Polshek Partnership Architects Asymptote
Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2006 New York, New York, United States, 2009
184 ATLAS Building
Rafael Violy Architects 257 Acknowledgments
Wageningen, the Netherlands, 2006 259 Bibliography
190 Blue Tower 262 Illustration Credits
Bernard Tschumi Architects
New York, New York, United States, 2007
198 The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Steven Holl Architects
Kansas City, Missouri, United States, 2007
206 The New York Times Building
Renzo Piano Building Workshop and
FXFOWLE Architects
New York, New York, United States, 2007
214 Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Krueck + Sexton Architects
Chicago, Illinois, United States, 2007
Published by Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Princeton Architectural Press Murray, Scott (Scott Charles), 1971
37 East Seventh Street Contemporary curtain wall architecture / Scott Murray.
New York, New York 10003 p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-56898-797-2 (alk. paper)
For a free catalog of books, call 1.800.722.6657. 1. Architecture, Modern. 2. Curtain walls. I. Title.
Visit our website at www.papress.com. NA2940.M88 2009
721.2dc22
2009 Princeton Architectural Press 2009007097
All rights reserved
Printed and bound in China Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Bree Anne Apperley, Sara Bader,
12 11 10 09 4 3 2 1 First edition Nicola Bednarek, Janet Behning, Becca Casbon, Carina Cha,
Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Carolyn Deuschle, Russell Fernandez,
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any Pete Fitzpatrick, Wendy Fuller, Jan Haux, Clare Jacobson, Aileen
manner without written permission from the publisher, Kwun, Nancy Eklund Later, Linda Lee, John Myers, Katharine
except in the context of reviews. Myers, Lauren Nelson Packard, Dan Simon, Andrew Stepanian,
Jennifer Thompson, Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston, and Deb
Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify Wood of Princeton Architectural Press
owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected Kevin C. Lippert, publisher
in subsequent editions.
The author gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the
Editor: Laurie Manfra Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and
Design: The Map Office, New York the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign.
Introduction

Recent years have seen a growing interest among contemporary architects in the
innovative use of the curtain wall, which can be broadly defined as the non-load-bearing
building envelope that typically hangs like a curtain from a structural frame. In 2008,
a New York Times Magazine article on the proliferation of high-profile buildings with
custom architectural enclosure systems declared, We are living in a golden agefor
facades.1 Indeed, curtain walls are transforming not only the aesthetic experience of
cities but also the technical performance of buildings with respect to energy efficiency
and occupant comfort. In contemporary practice, the curtain wall presents a microcosm
of issues important to architecture: climate-responsiveness and energy use, intelligent
utilization of resources, advancements in digital design and fabrication, and the timeless
desire to create buildings and spaces that function well and engage the imagination.
This book aims to explore the curtain wall as both concept and construct, placing
recent work by leading architects into the contexts of past and future developments.
The curtain wall remains one of the most enduring concepts of modern architectural
theory. From its origins in the late nineteenth century, the non-load-bearing facade has been
an influential component of each phase of modernism, driving innovation in response
to new challenges. The phenomenon of the curtain walllike its technological impetus,
the frame structureis ubiquitous and malleable. Through the articulation of materials
and parts, it can make a building anonymous or iconic; it can make it an energy hog or an
energy generator; and it can profoundly influence how people experience and use archi-
tecture, to name just a few of the issues that architects face when addressing the broad
implications of material selection, detailing, and fabrication methodology.
Developments in contemporary architectural design are best understood within their
respective historical and technological contexts. Therefore, this book is organized into three
parts, corresponding to history, technology, and contemporary design. Part I: A History
of the Curtain Wall as Concept and Construct traces key milestones, from initial con-
ceptions to subsequent developments in modern architecture. Part II: Performance
and Technique discusses the materials and methods currently influencing the design,
fabrication, and installation of curtain wall systems. Part III: Case Studies provides
analyses of twenty-four significant buildings completed since 2000.

1 Arthur Lubow, Face Value, New York Times Magazine, June 8, 2008, 4852.
Essay Title 8

Part I:
A History of
the Curtain Wall
as Concept
and Construct
1 2 3
The Visions of a The Mid-
Chicago Transparent Twentieth
Frame Future Century
and the Curtain
Dilemma Wall
of the
Wall

4
New Directions
and Priorities
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 10
Concept and Construct

The Chicago Frame

and the Dilemma
of the Wall
1.1
Construction of the
Reliance Buildings
structural frame,
August 1894

1.1
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 11

1.2 1.3

1.2 In his 1956 essay Chicago Frame, Colin methods. Whereas they formerly provided
Leiter Building I,
Chicago, Illinois, William
Rowe characterizes the frame structure as enclosure and structural support, the new
LeBaron Jenney, 1879 a universal theme of mid-twentieth-century frame presented an architectural dilemma.
architecture, proposing it to be the essence Freed of its load-bearing responsibilities,
1.3
of modern architecture. 1 The late-nineteenth- the exterior became a blank canvas. What
Ludington Building,
Chicago, Illinois, William century development of the frame structure should be the character of the new wall?
LeBaron Jenney, 1891 using columns and beams of concrete, iron, What type of skin should enclose the skeleton
and steel as a replacement for traditional structure? Although architects and engineers
solid-masonry load-bearing wallsmarked a did not arrive at an immediate solution, the
major transformation in architectural design curtain wall eventually emerged as a widely
and construction, exerting substantial influ- accepted response. After more than a cen-
ence over the commercial and institutional tury of development, the frame structure and
architecture of cities, particularly Chicago, its corollary, the curtain wall, continue to
where, as suggested by the title of Rowes dominate construction today.
essay, architects and clients embraced the From his perspective in the high-modern
new technology early on. From its experi- period of the 1950s, Rowe recognized the
mental manifestations in the nineteenth cen- importance of Chicagos late-nineteenth-
tury to its proliferation through the present century building boom and the advancements
day, the skeleton-frame structure was signifi- made during that period. In fact, he equates
cant not only for its technical achievements the relationship between his contempo-
and widespread dissemination but also as raries and the city of Chicago to that of the
a catalyst for new conceptions of architec- High Renaissance architects and Florence,
tural form. One of the most influential ideas Italy. The rebuilding effort in the years fol-
derived from the frame structure is the lowing the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which
modern curtain wall. [1.1] devastated the central business district, was
Historian Carl Condit called the inven- remarkable. Within twenty years, the down-
tion of skeleton-frame construction the town Loop area was rapidly redeveloped
most radical transformation in the structural with taller and taller buildings for which the
art since the development of the Gothic citys architects methodically explored radi-
system of construction in the twelfth century. 2 cally original methods of construction. This
The importance of this new technology intense effort was driven in part by a popu-
extended beyond the physical frame; it lation explosion: at the time of its incorpora-
allowed, perhaps even obligated, architects tion in 1837, the city had four thousand
to reconsider the essential character of inhabitants; by 1850, there were thirty thou-
the exterior wall. Traditionally responsible sand; and by 1890, it surpassed one million.3
for a wide range of aesthetic and technical The city was quickly becoming an epicenter
tasks, the outer walls of a building were of commerce and culture. As density and
directly implicated by innovative structural land values increased, the economic
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 12
Concept and Construct

1.4
Second Studebaker
Building, Chicago,
Illinois, Solon Spencer
Beman, 1896

1.5
Gage Group Buildings,
Chicago, Illinois,
Holabird and Roche,
1899

1.4 1.5

benefits of building taller were obvious. The three Gage Group Buildings were
Financial demand converged with the com- designed to maximize daylighting for the
mercial availability of elevators and advance- clients millinery workers. Sullivan was
ments in structural framing, leading to the responsible for the design of the more elab-
emergence of the skyscraper, which in turn orate facade of the northernmost building,
had remarkable consequences for the which in its articulation suggests a multi-
building enclosure. 4 story curtain hanging from the cornice. [1.5]
The work of a group of architects active A comparative study of two late-nine-
in the 1880s and 90swho later became teenth-century Chicago office buildings
known as the Chicago Schooldefined this the Monadnock Block (1891) and the Reliance
era of experimentation.5 Notable buildings Building (1895)is useful in understanding
from this group are quite numerous and the impact of the frame structure and the
include William LeBaron Jenneys Leiter eventual emergence of the curtain wall.
Building I (1879), in which timber girders Among the many remarkable aspects of
and floor joists were supported by a grid these two very different buildings is the fact
of cast-iron columns, a common construc- that they were both designed by the office
tion method at the time. [1.2] A unique of Daniel H. Burnham and built within five
strategy was used at the exterior, however, years of one another. Considered together,
where instead of a bearing wall, iron columns the Monadnock Block and the Reliance
1.6
located just inside the enclosure carried Building illustrate an important shift in Monadnock Block,
gravity loads at the floor perimeter. These the concept of structure and skin. Chicago, Illinois,
columns were clad in non-load-bearing A prolific architect and planner, Burnham Burnham and Root,
1891
brick piers, kept consistently narrow to maxi- was also responsible for overseeing the
mize the floor-to-ceiling windows. Also planning and construction of the 1893 1.7
designed by Jenney was the ten-story Home Worlds Columbian Exposition, and his office Monadnock Block;
Insurance Company Building (1885), con- produced influential city plans for Chicago, typical lower-, middle-,
and upper-floor plans
sidered by many to be the first modern sky- Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
scraper,6 as well as the Ludington Building Burnham always worked with a junior part- 1.8
(1891), one of the first all-steel structures. ner, and the common perception was that Monadnock Block
[1.3] Later steel-framed buildings, such Burnham handled the business side of the
as the second Studebaker Building (1896) firm while his partner directed the design
by Solon Spencer Beman and the Gage process, with Burnham acting as consultant
Group Buildings (1899) by Holabird and and critic.7 His first partner, John Wellborn
Roche in collaboration with Louis Sullivan, Root (of the firm Burnham and Root),
feature enclosures that express the underly- was the primary designer of the Monadnock
ing frame structure more directly. [1.4] Block. Root began work on the Reliance
Bemans Studebaker Building is dominated Building, but following his untimely death in
by large windows and iron-plate spandrels. 1891, the firm was renamed D. H. Burnham
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 13

1.8

and Company and a new design partner,

Charles B. Atwood, took responsibility
for the final design.
Burnham and Roots sixteen-story
Monadnock Block was, for a brief period,
the worlds tallest office building. [1.6]
Although in some ways unprecedented,
particularly in height and in its lack of
facade decoration, the building was archaic
in terms of its structural technology. At a
time when all-steel frame construction was
considered the future of the tall building,
the Monadnock Block was built using the
traditional arrangement of solid load-bearing
masonry walls at its exterior, with interior
floor loads carried on cast-iron columns and
wrought-iron beams. Although Roots initial
1.6
scheme called for a steel frame with an
ornately decorated facade of multicolored
brick and terra-cotta, the architect was
directed by his clients, Peter and Shepard
Brooks, to abandon ornamental embellish-
ments and revert to a traditional masonry
wall structure.8 Load-bearing masonry
requires that the walls thickness increase
in relation to a buildings height. The taller
the structure, the thicker the wall required
to carry its compressive loads to the ground,
which in turn requires a heavier foundation
to support the weight of the building. [1.7]
This type of construction, as commonly
used in Chicago, was considered to have a
practical height limit of ten stories. The
brick wall of the sixteen-story Monadnock
Block is 72 inches (1.8 meters) thick at its
base. The width of this massive wall, which
reveals itself at its recessed windows, has
1.7 an undeniably powerful presence that
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 14
Concept and Construct

1.9
Reliance Building,
Chicago, Illinois,
D. H. Burnham and
Company, 1895
1.9

evokes permanence and strength, but it built that were, as William Dudley Hunt
also takes up valuable floor space, limits described, masonry to the eye but steel
the size of the windows (and therefore the or reinforced concrete to the mind. 10
amount of natural light that reaches the Built just four blocks away and four years
interior), and was considerably less efficient later, the fifteen-story Reliance Building is a
than steel framing in terms of labor and striking departure from the Monadnock Block
time required for construction. [1.8] The and a radical reinterpretation of the office-
weight of such a structure can also lead to building facade. [1.9] Although critics at the
problems of settlement. Although the time were apparently not enthralledIt is
Monadnock Block was designed to accom- hardly to be supposed. . . that even the designer
modate 8 inches (0.2 meters) of settlement, will consider it a masterpiece, Charles
over the years it settled more than 20 inches Jenkins wrote 11the building was eventually
(0.5 meters).9 For these reasons, it was one recognized as a milestone accomplishment
of the last tall buildings to be built with solid of the Chicago School. Writing about the
masonry walls; however, architects did Reliance Building several decades later,
not immediately abandon the aesthetic of Condit claimed, If any work of structural
the brick wall. The transition to curtain art in the nineteenth century anticipated the
wall construction was a gradual process, future, it is this one, adding that Atwood
with an intervening period in which a great succeeded in developing almost to its ulti-
many frame-structure buildings were mate refinement the modern dematerialized
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 15

1.10
curtain wall. 12 The facade is characterized
Reliance Building, wall
section, 1895 by great expanses of glass arranged in the
Chicago window fashion, with a large
1.11 central pane of glass flanked by narrow oper-
Reliance Building,
typical floor plan
able windows. The glass is set nearly flush
within surrounding thin bands of glazed-
white terra-cotta cladding delicately articu-
lated with Gothic-inspired ornamentation.
[1.10] The client, William E. Hale, was deter-
mined to have a thoroughly modern building,
calling for abundant natural light, the latest
elevator technology, full electric service, and
a telephone in each office.13
It is perhaps difficult to grasp the impact
that the Reliance Building must have had
on Chicagoans in 1895. With their delicate
white framing, the glass walls, alternately
transparent or reflective depending on the
time of day and perspective, would have
stood in stark contrast to the neighboring
dark brick buildings. The speed of construc-
tion must have been startling as well. Working
with the engineer Edward C. Shankland,
Atwood designed a riveted steel-frame
structure, the top ten stories of which were
1.10
erected in just two weeks, a pace unthink-
able with traditional masonry structures.
In plan, the steel columns are effectively
masked from the exterior, incorporated
into corners and projecting bay windows.
[1.11] The effect is suggestive of the forth-
coming modern curtain wall: a minimal,
modular expression of the frames grid with
1.11 an infill of large glass panels. The wall is
simultaneously informed and inflected by
the structural frame, yet is free of it. In later
work, such as the Flatiron Building (1902)
in New York City, D. H. Burnham and
Company would return primarily to the
more conservative Beaux Artsinfluenced
style of the Worlds Columbian Exposition.14
To modern architects, it would later seem
that Burnham and Atwood had essentially
turned their backs on the new dialogue
between structure and skin that they initi-
ated in the Reliance Building, leaving it to
other architects to take up the discussion.
Both the Monadnock Block and the
Reliance Building were designated Chicago
Landmarks in the 1970s, and both are still in
use today. The Monadnock Block continues
to function as an office building, while the
Reliance Building, following an extensive
restoration in 1999, has been converted to a
hotel. In a nod to its designers, the building
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 16
Concept and Construct

1.12 1.13

is now known as Hotel Burnham; its ground- The materials of the railway, cast and 1.12
Haughwout Building,
floor restaurant is the Atwood Cafe. wrought iron, gradually became integrated New York, New York,
The frame structure had reached an into the general building vocabulary, partial section, west
important turning point in Chicago in the where they constituted the only available elevation, and floor
plan. John P. Gaynor,
late nineteenth century, when the availability fireproof elements for the multi-story
1857
of steel (a stronger alternative to iron), warehouse space required by industrial
among other factors, opened up new possi- production.16 1.13
bilities at an unparalleled scale. While the Haughwout Building,
south elevation
concept of the frame structure was certainly Frampton also noted that the standard
advanced during this period, it was not structural I-beam shape, ubiquitous in
invented then. An exhaustive history of frame structures today, first emerged from
the evolution of frame structures is beyond the typical railway section. Notable early
the scope of this work, but it is worth a uses of iron framing include two ground-
brief digression to note some important breaking English mill buildings: the first
precedents to the Chicago frame. Kenneth in 1792, by William Strutt, in Derby; and
Frampton has delineated the progression the second in 1796, by Charles Woolley
of iron applications over the course of the Bage, in Shrewsbury. Each employed cast-iron
nineteenth century in Europe and the United columns carrying segmental brick arches.
States, tracing its use from railroads and These were followed by the engineer Thomas
bridges to the roofs of market halls and Telfords 1829 warehouses at St Katherine
arcades and eventually to the framing of fully Docks, in London, which were built with
glazed conservatories and exhibition halls, iron framing encased in brick, refining
such as Joseph Paxtons Crystal Palace the techniques used in earlier buildings,
(1851) in London.15 With the rise of industry with incremental improvements over
came new uses for iron. Frampton wrote: previous installations.
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 17

1.14
Thomas Gantt Building,
Of particular interest in the study of the
St. Louis, Missouri, partial modern curtain wall is the mid-nineteenth-
section and partial floor century era of cast-iron architecture,
plan; architect unknown,
typified by the work of New York designer/
1877
builder James Bogardus, the pioneer of
1.15 the multistory self-supporting cast-iron
Thomas Gantt Building facade.17 Bogardus received a patent in 1850
for his construction system of manufac-
tured cast-iron columns and girders bolted
together to form a rigid frame, which he
employed in commercial projects such as
the four-story Laing Stores (1849) and a five-
story building at 254260 Canal Street (1857),
which is one Bogarduss few surviving build-
ings. He vigorously marketed the cast-iron
facade as an efficient and adaptable system
that was quick to erect, relatively inexpen-
sive, and resistant to fire. The Haughwout
Building (1857) on Broadway in New York
City was designed by the architect John P.
Gaynor to resemble a Venetian palazzo,
and it illustrates the tendency, which was
common at the time, to retain intricate his-
toricist ornament even while deploying a
new method of construction. [1.12 + 1.13]
1.14 Still occupied today, the building was the
first structure to be served by a passenger
elevator, installed by Elisha Graves Otis.
Another striking cast-iron building, which
Sigfried Giedion called one of the finest of
this period and a forerunner of the Chicago
skyscrapers,18 was the Thomas Gantt Building
(1877) in St. Louis, Missouri (dismantled
in the 1940s). [1.14 + 1.15] These cast-iron
facades, with their clear articulation of large
metal-framed windows and their system
of modular units prefabricated and bolted
together on site, clearly prefigure the
modern curtain wall.
At the turn of the twentieth century,
architects continued to explore the frame
structure and its dual implications for inte-
rior space and exterior expression. In 1897,
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the provoca-
tive Luxfer Prism Skyscraper, an unbuilt
plan for a ten-story steel-framed building
with a gridded facade of slightly projecting
floor-to-ceiling glass panels.19 In Belgium,
the architect Victor Horta worked with iron
and steel, developing a vocabulary expres-
sive of the ductile nature of those materials.
In his buildings, such as the Maison du Peuple
(1899) and LInnovation Department Store
(1903), the grid is clearly expressed on the
1.15 facade with thin iron elements framing large
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 18
Concept and Construct

1.16 1.17

panes of glass, but the frame is also shown at the outermost surface of the building. 1.16
to be adaptable, embellished now with With this erosion of the bearing wall, the LInnovation Department
Store, Paris, France,
the subtle curvatures of the Art Nouveau frame made it possible to open up the facade,
Victor Horta, 1903
aesthetic.20 [1.16] It was also around this allowing for the placement of larger and
time that architects began designing frame larger windows between structural mem- 1.17
structures with reinforced concrete on a bers, with the obvious benefits of increased Rue Franklin Apartments,
Paris, France, Auguste
significant scale. In Paris, Auguste Perrets daylight, views, and opportunities for venti- Perret, 1903
eight-story Rue Franklin Apartments (1903) lation. The window remained a discrete
used a system of reinforced-concrete con- unit, however big it became, serving as a
struction that had been pioneered and pat- transparent counterpoint to the opaque
ented by the builder Franois Hennebique grid of structure that framed it. In the first
in the 1890s. [1.17] The building was one two decades of the twentieth century, archi-
of the first concrete buildings to use the tects began experimenting with the possi-
structural frame itself (clad in terra-cotta) bility of separating the glass membrane of the
as the primary exterior expression, infilled window from the structural frame, trans-
almost entirely with glass. posing the glass from individual window to
Architects eventually began to question continuous wall. Walter Gropius described
the standard coplanar positioning of struc- this phenomenon, writing that as a direct
ture and skin. When the structural frame result of the growing preponderance of
first arrived to replace the solid bearing voids over solids, glass is assuming an ever
wall, it generally retained the walls position greater structural importance, with the
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 19

1.18
Fagus Shoe-Last
Factory, Alfeld an der
Leine, Germany, Walter
Gropius and Adolf
Meyer, 1911

1.18

walls becoming mere screens stretched metal mullions spanning vertically from
between the upright columns of this frame- floor to floor, subdivided into a grid of glass
work to keep out rain, cold, and noise. 21 panels, the dimensions of which were deter-
The gradual improvement in steel and con- mined by available plate-glass sizes, and
crete technologies, Gropius wrote, naturally the integration of opaque spandrel panels
leads to a progressively bolder (i.e. wider) where needed to mask the underlying struc-
opening up of the wall surfaces, which ture. A strategy similar to Gropiuss had been
allow rooms to be much better lit. 22 used in the fascinating Margarete Steiff toy
These concepts are evident in several factory (1903) in Giengen. Although uncon-
industrial buildings constructed in Germany firmed, it is believed that Richard Steiff,
just after the turn of the century, perhaps the grandson of the companys founder,
most clearly at the Fagus Shoe-Last Factory produced the design.23 In this instance, the
(1911), designed by Gropius and Adolf Meyer structural steel frame is encased in a double-
in Alfeld an der Leine. [1.18] Exposed brick- layer facade, with a continuous outer skin of
faced concrete columns are recessed behind glass panels set in iron mullions suspended
the plane of glass, revealing the wall to be in front of the structure and extending from
a nonstructural curtain. Between each ground to roof and from corner to corner,
column, the curtain wall is articulated as a with a second wall of glass on the inner side
continuous, three-story-high vertical band of the columns. Apparently designed for
passing uninterrupted beyond the edge of purely utilitarian purposesadmitting ample
each floor slab. The wall, with its organizing daylight to the factory while mitigating the
grid of slender steel mullions, is divided into inherent thermal issues of single-pane glass
clear glass panels and metal spandrels, the it stands as one of the earliest continuous
latter corresponding to the location of floor glass curtain walls and a remarkable precur-
slabs. At the corner, the structural column sor to the modern double-skin facades that
is eliminated altogether, allowing the glass would proliferate nearly a century later.
planes to meet at a single corner mullion In the United States, two early-twentieth-
that is no larger than typical. By comparison, century commercial buildings were particu-
the Fagus Shoe-Last Factory makes the cur- larly innovative in applying the curtain wall
tain wall at the AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin, concept at an unprecedented scale. In these
built just two years earlier to the design buildings, the structural frame is set back
of Peter Behrens (for whom Gropius had entirely behind the plane of a glass-and-metal
worked), seem old-fashioned and inelegant. facade, which is suspended from the struc-
In the Fagus building, we find many of the ture in a continuous surface. The earlier and
elements that would eventually constitute more obscure of the two is the Boley Building
the vernacular language of the curtain wall: (1908) in Kansas City, Missouri, designed
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 20
Concept and Construct

1.19 1.20

by Louis Curtiss. The later and better known revolutionary Hallidie Building became the 1.19
Boley Building, Kansas
is the Hallidie Building (1918) in San Francisco, first large-scale urban building to feature
City, Missouri, Louis
California, by Willis Polk. Each of these build- an all-glass curtain wall.26 [1.20] An unbroken Curtiss, 1908
ings has at various times been identified seven-story wall of clear glass panels (with
as the first large-scale installation of the no opaque spandrels) is suspended 3 feet 1.20
Hallidie Building,
pure curtain wall concept. Each was built in (0.9 meters) in front of the column line. San Francisco,
the center of its respective city, and, like the The glass is fixed within a grid of narrow California, Willis Polk,
Monadnock Block and Reliance Building, steel mullions, with the occasional pivoting 1918
they mark an important shift in the develop- sash for ventilation. The structural system
ment of the modern building envelope. is a reinforced-concrete frame. At the edge of
Curtisss six-story steel-framed Boley each floor slab, an upturned perimeter beam
Building is believed to be the first frame supports a thin cantilevered slab, which in
structure to use columns of solid rolled wide- turn supports the curtain wall and acts as a
flange sections rather than built-up mem- firebreak between floors. [1.21] The stark
bers.24 [1.19] The separation of skin and purity of the gridded curtain wall is mediated
structure is emphatic; a continuous wall by several ornate ironwork cornices and fire
of glass and steel is suspended from cantile- escapes that float in front of the glass wall.
vered floor slabs, which extend five feet (1.5 Polks client was the University of California
meters) beyond the columns. The curtain (the building is named for Andrew Hallidie,
wall, primarily large sheets of plate glass a former regent of the university and the
set within steel mullions, includes painted inventor of the cable car), and the unusual
steel-plate spandrels and is framed by a cor- decision to use an all-glass facade was alleg-
nice and corner bays clad in white-enameled edly a response to a tight budget and an accel-
terra-cotta (similar to the cladding of the erated six-month construction schedule.27
Reliance Building). Curtiss, who practiced A review of the building published in 1918
in Kansas City from the early 1890s until in Architectural Record pointedly avoids
his death in 1924, was an eccentric character any discussion of aesthetics, focusing
who regularly communicated with the spirit instead on the practical benefits of increased
world and was a fervent believer in the daylight and floor space, as compared to
Ouija board.25 He was also an undeniably traditional masonry walls with recessed
visionary designer. Though not particularly windows. The Hallidie Building, this article
well received or understood at the time, understates, possesses more than ordinary
the Boley Building was, in its structure and interest to architects. 28 It also uncannily
cladding, a clear precursor to the modern anticipates future developments in modern
architecture of later decades. curtain wall design.
Ten years after its completion, at a time Interestingly, there is no indication in
when most building facades were signifi- Polks earlier work of anything similar to
cantly less than 50 percent window, Polks the groundbreaking Hallidie Building, which
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 21

1.21 Frampton considers the unique triumph

Hallidie Building, wall
of Polks career. 29 As early as 1892, the
section
architect had articulated an appreciation for
innovation and a progressive stance regard-
ing historic precedent, writing, Standards
in art are set by the best work of [the] ages,
but no age. . . is compelled to take its beauty
from preceding epochs. . . . We must neither
depreciate nor imitate, but we should under-
stand and originate. 30 There are also inter-
esting connections between Polk and two
other figures discussed above: Burnham and
Curtiss. Before moving to San Francisco,
Polk worked for a time in Kansas City,
where he and Curtiss were both members
of the Kansas City Architectural Sketch
Club in the late 1880s and thus may have
known each other personally. 31 The first
commission of Curtisss career had been
the design of the Missouri State Building
for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition.
And Polk was also associated with the firm
of D. H. Burnham and Company for nearly
a decade, which included a stint working
in the Chicago office from 1902 to 1904, 32
where he surely would have become familiar
with the Reliance Building, the Studebaker
Building, and other works of the Chicago
School. Although there is no conclusive
proof, it is interesting to speculate that such
connections may have influenced Polks
design of the Hallidie Building. Along with the
Boley Building, it was listed in the National
Register of Historic Places in 1971; both are
still in use today, dwarfed by surrounding
skyscrapers that are built on the principles
they pioneered.
At the Bauhaus Building (1926), which
Reyner Banham called the first really big
masterpiece of the modern movement, 33 the
glass curtain wall is given its first truly mod-
ern articulation on a large scale. Designed
by Gropius and Meyer, the Bauhaus complex
is sited in Dessau, Germany, and includes a
five-story student dormitory wing, a three-
story classroom wing, and a three-story work-
shop block. The facade of each wing gives an
indication of the function within: the dormi-
tory has individual punched windows and
balconies, the classrooms are marked by
larger groupings of strip windows, and the
collective loft spaces of the workshop are
enclosed by a continuous glass curtain wall
1.21 that is hung outside of the reinforced-concrete
frame structure and spans the full height of
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 22
Concept and Construct

1.22

the building. Perhaps the most striking ele- the curtain wall of the workshop building. 1.22
Bauhaus Building,
ment of all is the curtain wall itself, which Though rebuilt to some degree, it remained
Dessau, Germany,
is technically similar to that of the Hallidie in various states of disrepair until it was Walter Gropius and
Building but utterly free of any historicist restored to the original design in 1976. In Adolf Meyer, 1926
ornament. [1.22] It clearly builds upon the 1996, the entire Bauhaus complex was added
architects earlier design for the Fagus Shoe- to the UNESCO World Heritage List; today
Last Factory while making certain refine- it houses the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, a
ments, including the elimination of opaque center for interdisciplinary design research.
spandrels and the complete setback of the If the frame structure can be considered
structure. With its steel mullions, pulley- a feat of engineering, then the curtain wall
operated vents, and repetition of standard- was architectures response, exploiting the
ized units, the Bauhaus Building curtain frames potential to reconceive the building
wall epitomizes Gropiuss concept of a new envelope, thereby transforming not only the
architecture, characterized by rationaliza- face of the modern building but also the
tion, machine production, and a new spatial experience of space within. The early, incre-
vision.34 Certainly not without controversy mental development of the curtain wall was
or technical deficiencies (such as condensa- infused with a spirit of experimentation
tion on the single-pane glass and insufficient and informed by a diverse set of ideas about
acoustic insulation), the curtain wall looms new construction methodologies, new mate-
large as an icon of the modern movement rials, efficiency, mass production, and, as
and as an emblem of the machine age. 35 we will see in the next chapter, the expres-
In 1945, an air raid on Dessau destroyed sive possibilities of glass.
The Chicago Frame and the Dilemma of the Wall 23

Endnotes
1 Colin Rowe, Chicago Frame, first published in is disputed by David Yeomans in The Origins of
Architectural Review, November 1956, 28589. the Modern Curtain Wall, APT Bulletin, 32, no. 1
Reprinted in Colin Rowe, The Mathematics of the (2000): 13.
Ideal Villa and Other Essays (Cambridge, Mass.: 16 Frampton, Modern Architecture, 32. Frampton
MIT Press, 1976), 285289. also quotes Walter Benjamins 1930 statement,
2 Carl W. Condit, The Chicago School of Architec- The rail was the first unit of construction, the
ture: A History of Commercial and Public forerunner of the girder.
Building in the Chicago Area, 18751925 (Chicago: 17 Margot Gayle and Carol Gayle, Cast-Iron
University of Chicago Press, 1964), 79. Architecture in America: The Significance of
3 Louis H. Sullivan, The Autobiography of an Idea James Bogardus (New York: W. W. Norton, 1998).
(New York: Dover Publications, 1956), 308; and In the foreword, Philip Johnson cites Bogardus as
Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture: A an influence on the work of Mies van der Rohe at
Critical History (London: Thames & Hudson, the Illinois Institute of Technology.
1992), 21. 18 Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, 202.
4 The first hydraulic elevator in Chicago was 19 Wright would eventually become more
installed in 1870 at the Burley and Company interested in working with the cantilever than the
Building on West Lake Street. See Condit, The frame. For a discussion of the Luxfer Prism
Chicago School of Architecture, 21. In 1899, the projects role in Wrights oeuvre, see Michael
critic Montgomery Schuyler claimed that the Mostoller, The Towers of Frank Lloyd Wright,
elevator doubled the height of the office building Journal of Architectural Education, 38, no. 2
and the steel frame doubled it again, as quoted in (Winter 1985): 1317.
Frampton, Modern Architecture, 52. 20 The historian William J. R. Curtis calls the facade
5 Although originally coined by the architect of the Maison du Peuple every bit as radical as
Thomas Tallmadge in 1908 to signify a group of Sullivans contemporary skyscraper designs in
residential designers that included Frank Lloyd Chicago, in Modern Architecture Since 1900
Wright, the term Chicago School has since been (London: Phaidon Press, 2005), 56. First
expanded to include the commercial architects of published in 1982.
the 1880s and 1890s. 21 Walter Gropius, The New Architecture and the
6 Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture: Bauhuas (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1965),
The Growth of a New Tradition (Cambridge, 269.
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967), 208. 22 Ibid., 26.
7 A. N. Rebori, The Work of Burnham and Root, 23 Christian Schittich, et al., Glass Construction
Architectural Record, July 1915, 41. Manual (Basel: Birkhuser, 1999), 25.
8 Kristen Schaffer, Daniel H. Burnham: Visionary 24 Fred T. Comee, Louis Curtiss of Kansas City,
Architect and Planner, ed. Scott J. Tilden (New Progressive Architecture, August 1963, 12834.
York: Rizzoli, 2003), 10. 25 Ibid.
9 Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture, 67. 26 Keith W. Dills, The Hallidie Building, Journal of
10 William Dudley Hunt, The Contemporary the Society of Architectural Historians, 30, no. 4
Curtain Wall (New York: F. W. Dodge Corp., (December 1971): 32329.
1958), v. 27 Nory Miller, Down and Dirty in 1917, Progres-
11 Charles E. Jenkins, A White Enameled Building, sive Architecture, November 1981, 1089. The
Architectural Record, JanuaryMarch 1895, 299. original color scheme of the building was blue and
12 Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture, 111. gold, the colors of the University of California.
Similarly, Giedion calls the Reliance Building an 28 MacDonald W. Scott, A Glass-Front Building,
architectonic anticipation of the future and Architectural Record, October 1918, 381.
suggests that it was an inspiration for Mies van 29 Kenneth Frampton and Yukio Futugawa,
der Rohes visionary skyscraper projects of the Modern Architecture: 18511945 (New York:
1920s. See Giedion, Space, Time and Architec- Rizzoli, 1983), 194.
ture, 388. The so-called dematerialization of the 30 Willis Polk, A Matter of Taste, Wave, Novem-
curtain wall is the subject of interesting debate in ber 12, 1892, 16. As quoted in Richard W. Long-
Joanna Merwood, The Mechanization of streth, On the Edge of the World: Four Architects
Cladding: The Reliance Building and Narratives of in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century
Modern Architecture, Grey Room (Summer (New York: Architectural History Foundation and
2001): 5269. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1983), 93.
13 Jay Pridmore, The Reliance Building: A Building 31 Donald L. Hoffmann, Pioneer Caisson Building
Book from the Chicago Architecture Foundation Foundations: 1890, Journal of the Society of
(San Francisco: Pomegranate, 2003), 6. Architectural Historians, 25, no. 1 (March 1966):
14 Rowe calls the Worlds Columbian Exposition 6871.
the debacle which overwhelmed these Chicago 32 Longstreth, On the Edge of the World, 299301.
architects and cut short their development. See 33 Reyner Banham, Age of the Masters: A Personal
Rowe, Chicago Frame, 286. Interestingly, when View of Modern Architecture (New York: Harper
this essay was reprinted in The Mathematics of & Row, 1962), 157.
the Ideal Villa and Other Essays, Rowe inserted a 34 Gropius, The New Architecture and the
qualifier that was not present in the original Bauhaus, 1924.
version: the exposition was now an alleged 35 Curtis, Modern Architecture Since 1900, 196.
debacle.
15 The Crystal Palace, a grand exhibition hall, was
essentially an immense iron-framed shed clad on
all sides in glass. It is often held to be an influence
on later curtain wall development, although this
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 24
Concept and Construct

Visions of a
Transparent
Future

2.1
Visions of a Transparent Future 25

The contribution of the present age topic related to glass architecture, from the
is that it is now possible to have an inde- psychological effects of colored glass to
pendent wall of glass, a skin of glass the notion of lighting a space via translucent
around a building; no longer a solid wall floors. Perhaps most notable, however, is
with windows. Even though the window Scheerbarts dramatic depiction of an entire
might be the dominant partthis window world of glass architecture, evident here in
is the wall itself, or in other words, this a passage that seems to acknowledge the
wall is itself the window. And with this we ongoing rise of the frame structure:
have come to a turning point. . . it is the
disappearance of the outside wall.1 The face of the earth would be much altered
if brick architecture were ousted everywhere
This quote, from Arthur Korns 1929 by glass architecture. It would be as if the
book Glass in Modern Architecture, typifies earth were adorned with sparkling jewels
the professions growing fascination with the and enamels. Such glory is unimaginable. . . .
potential dematerialization of the building We should then have a paradise on earth,
envelope made possible by the new struc- and no need to watch in longing expectation
tural frame and its corollary, the curtain wall. for the paradise in heaven.4
2.1 This interest centered on the concept of
Maison Domino, transparency and the increased use of glass, Furthermore, Scheerbart articulated
perspective drawing,
Le Corbusier, 1914
which was quickly becoming the primary his faith in the possibility that this new
component of the new building envelope. It is glass architecture would impact society on
therefore important to examine two develop- a fundamental level:
ing trajectories of the early twentieth century:
theories of glass architecture and technolo- We live for the most part in closed rooms.
gies of glass production. These form the environment from which
In the early decades of the twentieth our culture grows. Our culture is to a certain
century, one of the envisioned promises of extent the product of our architecture. If we
modern architecture was a future in which want our culture to rise to a higher level, we
the concept of transparencyin both its are obliged, for better or for worse, to change
literal and phenomenal manifestations2 our architecture. . . . We can only do that
would have a liberating effect, leading to new by introducing glass architecture, which
and improved modes of cultural expression. lets in the light of the sun, the moon, and the
Concepts of transparency and luminosity stars, not merely through a few windows,
were often equated with enlightenment and but through every possible wall, which will
considered a bellwether of modern culture, be made entirely of glassof colored glass.
especially in Europe, where architects such The new environment, which we thus create,
as Bruno Taut, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and must bring us a new culture.5
Walter Gropius, among others, led a design
movement based on these ideals, which, for With his lyrical, effusive rhetoric,
them, represented the future of architecture. Scheerbart found an American counterpart
Although these architects are rightly consid- in Frank Lloyd Wright. For Wright, glass
ered to be among the fathers of modernism, represented the potential liberation of inte-
there is another, lesser-known figure whose rior space, the reintegration of the interior
work was highly influential in this period. with its exterior setting. A transparent
Paul Scheerbart was a Berlin-based poet and envelope would permit a building to merge
novelist whom the historian Reyner Banham organically with the landscape. For its abil-
has referred to as one of modernisms missing ity to aid in this pursuit, Wright referred
pioneers 3 due to his importance and relative to glass as a super-material, nothing less
obscurity. In his book, Glasarchitektur, which than a miracle.6 Echoing Scheerbart, Korn,
was published in Berlin in 1914, Scheerbart and Mies, Wright wrote, Walls themselves
describes an imagined future world in which because of glass will become windows, and
glass becomes the dominant material of windows as we used to know them as holes
architecture. This unusual book is comprised in walls will be seen no more. 7 And like
of 111 short chapterssome no more than a Scheerbart, Wright also wrote of an imag-
sentence longeach addressing a specific ined future world constructed of glass:
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 26
Concept and Construct

2.2
Imagine a city iridescent by day, luminous input from the engineer Max Du Bois, and Glass Skyscraper
by night, imperishable! Buildings, shimmer- it seems to point toward Le Corbusiers Project, perspective
ing fabrics, woven of rich glass; glass all development of the free plan and free facade drawing, Mies van der
Rohe, 1921
clear or part opaque and part clear, pat- concepts, while simultaneously referencing
terned in color or stamped to harmonize the earlier concrete work of his former 2.3
with the metal tracery that is to hold it employer, Auguste Perret, and that of Franois Glass Skyscraper
all together. . . .We have yet to give glass Hennebique. Although Le Corbusier did not Project, photograph of
model, Mies van der
proper architectural recognition.8 explicitly explore the curtain wall in his Rohe, 1922
earliest deployments of the Domino hous-
An obsession with the idea of novelty was ing system (opting instead for an infill of
a driving force in the work of some architects solid masonry with strip windows), his
and writers, who, like Scheerbart, advocated famous drawing stands as a clear polemic.
new ways of thinking about architecture and It was a provocation to architecture, freeing
designing buildings, which, the poet argued, not only the plan but also the elevation, and
would result in an elevation of culture. He calling into question the status of the wall,
was writing at a time when architects were which could now become almost anything,
just beginning to rethink the form, substance, limited only by the architects imagination.
and performance of the building envelope. A few years later, Mies produced plans
Although Scheerbart died just one year after for two visionary projects for prototypical
publishing Glasarchitektur, his continued glass skyscrapersa faceted, prismatic design
influence can be seen in the work of a num- in 1921 and a curvilinear construction in 1922,
ber of early modern architects, including three both sited in Berlin. [2.2 + 2.3] Although unbuilt,
mentioned earlierTaut, Mies, and Gropius. both projects were designed to employ frame
We have already seen evidence of such an structures, the first in steel and the second in
influence in the design of the Bauhaus Building reinforced concrete, and both were to be fully
by Gropius and Meyer; in a 1919 letter to a col- encased in all-glass curtain walls. Frampton
league, Gropius wrote, You absolutely must has written that Miess 1921 skyscraper proj-
read Paul Scheerbarth [sic]. In [his] works ect was a direct response to Scheerbarts
you will find much wisdom and beauty.9 Glasarchitektur.10 Mies himself, writing in
At the same time that Scheerbart was Tauts magazine Fruhlicht in 1922, described
writing in Berlin, the architect Charles- the relationship of skin to structure in his
douard Jeanneret (soon to take the pseud- skyscraper projects as follows:
onym Le Corbusier) was developing his
1914 proposal, Maison Domino, represented Instead of trying to solve new problems
in an iconic and somewhat abstract perspec- with old forms, we should develop the
tive drawing showing a two-story structure new forms from the very nature of the new
of reinforced-concrete columns and flat problems. We can see the new structural
slabs, minus any indication of enclosure. principles most clearly when we use glass
[2.1] At first glance, it would appear that the in place of the outer walls, which is feasible
disappearance of the outside wall that today since in a skeleton building these
Korn postulated had been fully achieved. outer walls do not actually carry weight.
But Le Corbusiers drawing was not a depic- The use of glass imposes new solutions.11
tion of a finished building; rather, it was an
illustration of a proposed system for con- Miess projects are remarkable for their
structing economical mass-produced hous- startling proposed use of an all-glass curtain
ing, which he envisioned as a solution for wall on such immense scales (twenty and
the coming reconstruction of France after thirty stories, respectively) as well as for
World War I. The projects title was appar- their prescience. Though lacking in detail,
ently derived from the words domicile (or the suggestion of a fully transparent floor-
domus) and innovation; some have also sug- to-floor glass enclosure on tall buildings
gested a double meaning, with the observa- indicated a new direction for the curtain
tion that when multiple units were arranged wall. Mies was not interested in merely a
in rows or L-shaped plans, they resembled simple or literal transparency; he developed
dominos. The frame structure, with its a design process using actual glass models
cantilevered floor slabs, was designed with to determine the building form, thereby
Visions of a Transparent Future 27

working to achieve a desirable play of reflec-

tions on the facade.12 Even in this early work,
he displays knowledge of the full expressive
range of glass, from transparency to reflec-
tivity and even opacity. The first image one
encounters in Korns Glass in Modern
Architecture is a photograph of Miess sky-
scraper model, as if to suggest that it was
the genesis for all that followed. Although
these projects by Mies were never realized
the technology did not yet exist to solve the
technical requirements of such a curtain
wallthe all-glass skyscraper has been a
running theme in every subsequent phase
of modern architecture. Several decades
later, Mies himself would finally have the
opportunity to explore these ideas in built
form in his highly influential towers in
Chicago, New York, and elsewhere.
Though Scheerbarts Glasarchitektur
remained untranslated until 1972, the rele-
vance and influence of the books ideas
should not be underestimated. Nearly seven
decades after its initial publication, Banham
2.2 wrote of Glasarchitektur that of all the
visionary writings of that period, this book
has the greatest impact nowadays as the
concrete and tangible vision of the future
environment of man. 13 What impressed
Banhamand what remains impressive
todayis Scheerbarts attention to not only
a poetic vision of glass architecture but also
his farsighted concern for technical solu-
tions to glass architectures potential inad-
equacies. This is all the more impressive
considering that he was primarily a poet,
not an architect or engineer.
Many of the practical issues Scheerbart
touched on in 1914 continue to be the focus
of much research today. For instance, he
identified the importance of the double wall,
writing that since air is one of the worst con-
ductors of heat, all glass architecture needs
the double wall. 14 This is a remarkably
insightful idea that illustrates his solid grasp
of the technical issues related to glass build-
ings. It foreshadows the development of
double-pane insulating glass in the late 1930s
as well as the functional, active double-skin
curtain wall systems that were not fully devel-
oped until the 1980s and 1990s. Scheerbart
explains that the insulating cavity between
the two glass walls can be utilized for lighting,
writing that with this type of lighting the
2.3 whole glass house becomes a big lantern. 15
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 28
Concept and Construct

He understood that heating and cooling ele- The next major breakthrough was the
ments should not be placed in the space development of tempered glass in the late
between walls, as too much warmth or cold 1920s. Still in use today, tempering is a sec-
would be lost to the outside atmosphere.16 ondary process that improves strength char-
He also recognized that glass architecture is acteristics, regardless of the process by
appropriate only in certain climates, namely, which the glass is produced. Also known
in temperate zones and not in tropical or as toughened glass, tempered glass is made
polar regions.17 He had an intuitive under- by heating the sheet in a furnace until it
standing of the importance of factors such as begins to soften, at about 1,200F, then cool-
climate, energy, and industrial production ing it quickly by blowing air simultaneously
for the success of the new glass architecture. on both sides.20 This process induces com-
At the time, the glass industry did not have pression in the outer surfaces, resulting in
many solutions to these problems; there improved performance under lateral load-
would, however, eventually be a number of ing. Tempered glass is characterized by its
new inventions and other developments to increased strength and the unique way in
address such concerns. which it fractures when broken. It is up to
In its basic form, glass is a mixture of four times stronger than regular, nontem-
sand, soda, and limestone, heated until molten pered glass (also called annealed glass),
(about 2,400F) and then slowly cooled to and when broken, it shatters into relatively
a solid.18 Humans have produced it for thou- safe, small pieces with dull edges. The inven-
sands of years in various forms; with gradual tion of tempered glass provided a more
refinements and developments, it has become durable and safer product that would further
a nearly ubiquitous material in architecture, encourage the use of larger expanses of
industry, and art. The type of glass eventu- glazing in architecture.
ally developed for use as windows in building The Libbey-Owens-Ford Company was
construction is known as architectural glass a major producer and innovator among
(as opposed to art glass, automotive glass, United States manufacturers in the early-
or other forms). Since it is typically required and mid-twentieth century. It was one of the
in relatively large, flat sheets of various first companies to develop a prefabricated
thicknesses and with specific strength and double-pane insulating glass unit, called
optical qualities, it has its own unique man- Thermopane, which appeared in its catalog
ufacturing and processing requirements. in 1940. The product addressed one of the
Scheerbarts 1914 treatise urged a revolution major drawbacks of single-pane windows:
in glass architecture shortly after a signifi- their poor insulating value. By creating a
cant transformation had already occurred sealed airspace between two panes of glass
in the architectural glass industry. In 1904, separated by a metal spacer, Thermopane
the process of drawn glass was patented in and other similar products, such as Pittsburgh
Belgium; a similar process was patented in Plate Glasss Twindow, significantly improved
the United States the following year. This the U-value. After further improvements to
technique involved drawing a sheet of mol- the materials and methods of spacing and
ten glass from a vat, at a rate of up to 120 feet sealing, double- and triple-pane insulating
per hour; the sheet was then passed through units were in wide use, and their prevalence
a series of rollers until cooled. This ribbon continues in architecture today.
of glass could be continuously produced as In the 1950s, Sir Alistair Pilkington, work-
long as the raw materials were supplied to ing in England, invented a new method of
the melting furnace. In its mechanization, architectural glass productioncalled the float
this technique represented a distinct advan- processthat still dominates the industry
tage over existing methods, in which single and that fed the rapid growth of glass archi-
pieces of flat glass were produced through tecture during the second half of the twentieth
blowing or casting. The invention of the century.21 Pilkington melts the raw materials
drawn-glass process represented the first and then floats the mixture onto a bed of
significant innovation in flat-glass produc- molten tin, the surface of which is almost per-
tion in 250 years, and without it, the trans- fectly flatthus forming an almost perfectly
parent dreams of early modernism may even surface on both the tin and air sides of
never have come to fruition.19 the sheet, free of the distortions and waves
Visions of a Transparent Future 29

inherent in earlier manufacturing techniques. air) and periodic advances in available tech-
After partial cooling (to make the glass some- nology, this idea found expression in the
what rigid), the continuous strip is transferred rapidly growing use of glass in the building
onto a conveyor of rollers, where it is gradually envelope. In a broader sense, the concept
cooled and eventually cut into pieces. There of transparency in architecture was further
is no further polishing or grinding required embraced as symbol and catalyst for a new,
for either surfacea major improvement over open society. In retrospect, the relative
previous production methods. Fully auto- success of this latter agenda has been widely
mated float lines now run constantly, twenty- critiqued, as Annette Fierro wrote, Prophesies
four hours per day, seven days per week.22 of societal reformation were at best nave,
Today, there are more than seventy-five float hopelessly confused between the literal prop-
plants operating in the world, producing more erties of architecture and its associated meta-
than 90 percent of the architectural glass phors. 24 The magical disappearance of the
manufactured in the Western world.23 outside wall that Korn described in 1929
In the buildings and texts of the early- certainly captures the spirit of the era but
and mid-twentieth century, the modernist would prove, in reality, to be a myth. Further
ideal of transparency was, in fact, evident development and dissemination of the glass
both metaphorically and literally. Coupled curtain wall in the mid-twentieth century
with the growing importance of views and would require morenot lessattention to
natural light (and, to a lesser extent, fresh the tectonics of materials and their assembly.

Endnotes
1 Arthur Korn, Glass in Modern Architecture 10 Frampton, Modern Architecture,162. See also
(London: Barrie & Rockcliff, 1968), 6. First Banham, The Glass Paradise, 89, where he
published in German as Glas im Bau und als writes that Scheerbart spoke of America as the
Gebrauchsgegenstand in 1929. country where the destinies of glass architecture
2 In their seminal essay on transparency, Colin would be fulfilled, and spoke of the propriety of
Rowe and Robert Slutzky make an important the Patina of bronze as a surface. In other words,
distinction between the literal and the phenom- he stood closer to the Seagram Building than
enal: Transparency may be an inherent quality Mies did in 1914.
of a substanceas in wire mesh or glass 11 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Fruhlicht (1922),
curtain wall, or it may be an inherent quality of as translated in Peter Carter, Mies van der
organization. Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky, Rohe at Work (London: Phaidon Press, 1999), 18.
Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal, 12 Frampton, Modern Architecture, 162.
Perspecta 8 (1963): 4554. Reprinted in Rowe, 13 Reyner Banham, The Architecture of the
The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Well-tempered Environment (Chicago:
Essays, 15976. University of Chicago Press, 1969), 125.
3 Reyner Banham, The Glass Paradise, 14 Scheerbart and Taut, Glass Architecture and
Architectural Review, February 1959, 89. Alpine Architecture, 42.
4 Paul Scheerbart and Bruno Taut, Glass Architecture 15 Ibid., 51.
and Alpine Architecture, ed. Dennis Sharp, trans. 16 Discussion of Le Corbusiers neutralizing wall
James Palmes and Shirley Palmer (New York: in Banham, The Architecture of the Well-
Praeger, 1972), 46. This volume contains English tempered Environment, 15663.
translations of Scheerbarts Glasarchitektur (1914) 17 Scheerbart and Taut, Glass Architecture and
and Tauts Alpine Architektur (1919). All quotations Alpine Architecture, 42.
are from Glass Architecture and Alpine 18 Joseph Amstock, Handbook of Glass in
Architecture. Construction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997), 11.
5 Scheerbart and Taut, Glass Architecture and 19 Michael Wigginton, Glass in Architecture
Alpine Architecture, 41. (London: Phaidon Press, 1996), 55; and Amstock,
6 Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House Handbook of Glass in Construction, 16.
(New York: Horizon Press, 1954), 51. 20 Wigginton, Glass in Architecture, 55.
7 Ibid., 53. 21 Ibid., 64.
8 Frank Lloyd Wright, In the Cause of Architecture, 22 Amstock, Handbook of Glass in Construction, 4.
Architectural Record, July 1928, 1116. A compari- 23 Ibid., 52.
son of Wright and Scheerbart is also made in 24 Annette Fierro, The Glass State: The Technology
Frampton, Modern Architecture, 187. of the Spectacle, Paris 19811998 (Cambridge,
9 As quoted in John Stuart, The Gray Cloth: Mass.: MIT Press, 2003), 39.
Paul Scheerbarts Novel on Glass Architecture,
trans. John Stuart (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 2001), xiii.
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 30
Concept and Construct

The Mid-
Twentieth-Century
Curtain Wall
3.1
United Nations
Secretariat, New York,
New York,
Wallace K. Harrison
(director of planning),
1950

3.2
United Nations
Secretariat, typical
floor plan

3.3
Advertisement describ-
ing the Secretariat as
the Worlds Largest
Window, originally pub-
lished in Architectural
Forum, 1950

3.4
United Nations
Secretariat, typical mul-
lion plan detail

3.5
United Nations
Secretariat, wall section

3.1 3.2
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 31

3.4 3.3

In a 1966 review of Mies van der Rohes are composed of glass curtain walls designed
work, the critic Ada Louise Huxtable called to maximize daylight and views, while the
the glass box, as derived from Miess inno- narrow north and south elevations, clad
vations, the genuine vernacular of the entirely in Vermont marble, are windowless.
mid-twentieth century. 1 Acknowledging The curtain wall is suspended two feet and
its deficiencies in the hands of less-skilled nine inches (80 centimeters) beyond the
architects, she nevertheless saw this build- perimeter column line and consists of alu-
ing type as a legitimate and occasionally minum mullions on four-foot (1.2 meter)
brilliant response to the needs of modern centers, spanning floor to floor, into which
commercial society in the postwar era. are inserted 5,400 double-hung aluminum
Though overly simplistic, the term glass box windows and the same number of glass
came to signify an architecture character- spandrels. [3.3] Blue-green-tinted, heat-
ized by simple volumetric forms comprised absorbing glass is used throughout; at the
of frame structures enclosed primarily with spandrels, wired glass is used in front of a
glass curtain walls. From the late 1940s low masonry wall that is painted black on
through the 1960s, this paradigm was its outer surface. [3.4 + 3.5]
methodically explored in diverse building The final configuration of the Secretariat
types, on a wide range of scales and in vari- curtain wall was the subject of significant
ous cities around the world, but it found its debate and controversy. During the design
most influential expression in three office teams deliberations, Le Corbusier had been
buildings constructed in New York City in adamant that the east and west facades
the 1950s: the United Nations Secretariat, should incorporate a system of exterior brise-
Lever House, and the Seagram Building.2 soleil to protect the glass from excessive
The thirty-nine-story Secretariat (1950) sunlight. He had successfully employed the
is the largest and most visible component system in previous projects, two of which are
of the United Nations Headquarters, which discussed in greater detail below. Before con-
also includes the General Assembly (1952), struction began, Le Corbusier felt compelled
the Conference and Visitors Center (1952), to take his argument to the chair of the UN
and the Dag Hammarskjld Library (1961).3 Headquarters Advisory Committee, writing
Wallace K. Harrison was the director of in a fiery letter: My strong belief is that it is
planning for the complex, leading an inter- senseless to build in New York, where the
national team of architects that included climate is terrible in summer, large areas of
Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. [3.1 + 3.2] glass which are not equipped with a brise-
The Secretariat is sited with its long axis soleil. I say this is dangerous, very seriously
parallel to the East River. The skin of this dangerous.4 His warnings were not heeded.
steel-framed tower establishes a clear Harrison and the UN Planning Office dis-
dichotomy of solid and void. The two wide missed the proposal, presenting counterar-
3.5 elevationsfacing roughly east and west guments that the exterior sunshades would
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 32
Concept and Construct

add significant cost to the project, present a new era of high-rise glass architecture.
a future maintenance problem, and become In the November 1950 issue of Architectural
a snow and ice hazard in winter. It was also Forum, the magazines editors concluded,
argued that the east-west orientation would Just as the modern Secretariat had supplied
not be as onerous as some imagined because a monumental symbol for the UN, so the
the Manhattan grid is actually skewed twenty- UN had, in turn, given modern architecture
nine degrees from true north. Therefore, they an aura of respectability, an association
claimed, the west facade would actually face with world-wide prestige. 10 After decades
northwest, and the harsh effects of the after- of deferred maintenance, the entire United
noon sun would be diminished. In the end, Nations complex, including the Secretariat
an analytical study of various glass types and curtain wall, is slated for a major $1.9 billion
configurationsincluding the construction renovation project beginning in 2008.11
of a four-story mock-up of the curtain wall It is perhaps understandable that Le
convinced Harrison and his colleagues that Corbusier was so spirited in his advocacy
blue-green-tinted, heat-absorbing glass for brise-soleil at the United Nations
would be appropriate, both economically he had learned this lesson the hard way.
and technically, for the curtain wall.5 His Cit de Refuge (1933), the Salvation Armys
Throughout the construction phase and hostel and rehabilitation center in Paris, fea-
upon completion, the building garnered tured a multistory, hermetically sealed, south-
positive attention from architects as well facing curtain wall of single-pane glass. In the
as the general public. But the critic Lewis heat of summer, this wall created an intoler-
Mumford, for one, was unimpressed, calling able greenhouse effect for the rooms within.
the Secretariat not a work of three-dimen- Thirteen months after the building opened,
sional architecture, but a Christmas package local planning authorities demanded that
wrapped in cellophane. 6 In a review of the operable windows be installed; eventually, the
building for the New Yorker, he observed that south facade was retrofitted with exterior
during its first summer in operation, work- brise-soleil, in the form of projecting vertical
ers in the Secretariat found that excessive and horizontal fins, to mitigate the solar
solar heat gain and glare made it necessary issues.12 To his credit, Le Corbusier had origi-
to keep the interior blinds fully drawn most of nally envisioned a much more sophisticated
the day, such that the result of misorienting enclosure system for the building. His initial
the Secretariat and using glass so exuber- design was for a double-skin curtain wall
antly is to create a building that functionally an example of his mur neutralisant (neutral-
is often windowless on all four sides.7 Various izing wall) concept, consisting of two layers
corrective measures, including applying of glass separated by an interstitial cavity
reflective film to the glass, were eventually through which, depending on the season,
attempted to remedy the solar heat gain.8 either cooled or heated air could be circulated,
Le Corbusier was vindicated. Mumford also thus creating a buffer zone between interior
pointed out that when viewed from the street, and exterior environments. This enclosure
the green-tinted glass walls were rarely trans- was to be coupled with an advanced central
parent, as apparently intended, but often air-conditioning system (quite new and
rather dark and reflective, essentially acting uncommon in France at the time) to main-
as enormous mirrors to reflect the sky and tain comfortable interior conditions.13
urban context. Mumford did, however For budgetary reasons, the sealed curtain
grudgingly, acknowledge the mesmerizing wall was built with just a single pane of glass
and incomparable aesthetic effects of the and the cooling equipment was eliminated
great glass wall from the exterior: No build- altogether (only heating and ventilation
ing in the city is more responsive to the con- were provided), with terrible results.
stant play of light and shadow in the world One of the first large-scale deployments
beyond it; none varies more subtly with the of Le Corbusiers brise-soleil concept can be
time of day.9 Though clearly flawed in exe- found at the headquarters of the Ministry of
cution, the Secretariat represented a major Education and Health (1943) in Rio de Janeiro,
step forward in the development of the cur- Brazil. Like the United Nations complex, it
tain wall, giving it a forceful presence in a was designed by a team of architects, in this
prominent building and helping to usher in case headed by Lucio Costa and Niemeyer.
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 33

3.6
Ministry of Education
and Health, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, south
elevation, Lucio Costa
and Oscar Niemeyer
(directors of planning),
1943

3.7
Ministry of Education
and Health, north
elevation

Le Corbusier served as a kind of senior con-

sultant and mentor to the team. The design
is also notable as a large-scale implementa-
tion of his Five Points of a New Architecture.
These included pilotis to raise the mass of
the building off the ground, the roof garden,
3.6 the free plan, the free facade, and the horizon-
tal ribbon window. The ministry building,
which has been called the origin of modern
architecture in Brazil,14 is an obvious precur-
sor to the Secretariat building. The elongated,
rectangular tower contains two broad, trans-
parent facades framed by two solid end walls.
On the sunless southern side, the building is
enclosed with a curtain wall of floor-to-ceiling
glass, incorporating double-hung windows
for ventilation. This system is repeated on the
sunny northern side but with the addition of
exterior brise-soleil featuring deep vertical
fins supporting adjustable, horizontal cement-
panel louvers. [3.6 + 3.7] This design is
intriguing not only for its practical problem-
solving but also for its recognition that a build-
ing should respond directly and specifically
to its local climate and orientation. As the
Ministry of Education and Health building
shows, the brise-soleil system can be fine-
tuned to a sites sun angles, maintaining the
desired effects of the glass wall while miti-
gating its inherent problems. Banham calls
the brise-soleil system one of Le Corbusiers
most masterly inventions. 15 In his later
buildings, such as the High Court (1955) in
Chandigarh, India, and the Carpenter Center
(1964) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the
brise-soleil became the dominant expressive
element. Along with his neutralizing double-
3.7 wall concept, the brise-soleil continues to
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 34
Concept and Construct

3.8
Lever House,
New York, New York,
Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, 1952

3.9
Lever House, typical
tower floor plan

3.10
Lever House, wall
section

3.11
Lever House, typical
mullion plan detail (left)
and window-washing
guide rail (right)

3.8

3.9
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 35

3.11

3.10 capture the architectural imagination, as can Transparent vision glass constitutes just
be seen in several of the contemporary case over 50 percent of the wall. The Lever House
studies described later in this book. contrasts with the Secretariat in several
Soon after United Nations employees important ways. The glass in Lever House
moved into the Secretariat, construction is fixed in place, without operable windows,
workers were putting the finishing touches relying entirely on air-conditioning for inte-
on Lever House (1952) on Park Avenue in New rior comfort (fixed glass reportedly cost
York City. [3.8 + 3.9] This twenty-one-story 30 percent less than operable windows).18
steel-framed tower was designed by Gordon Lever House is also the first built example
Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of the curtain wall expressed as an uninter-
(SOM). Lever House was the firms first rupted glass membrane, stretching around
high-rise office building, and it established the towers corners to cover all elevations
the firm as a leader in this building type, equally. The continuous glazing and narrow
which it would go on to develop in cities floor plate ensured that no desk was more
throughout the world. An immediate draw than twenty-five feet from a window. Although
for curious visitors who lined up to tour not plagued by solar-heat-gain issues to
the building,16 Lever House was also well the same degree as the Secretariat, interior
received by the architectural press, as noted blinds in the building were often drawn to
in a 1952 article in Architectural Forum control glare within the office spaces. Another
describing it as infinitely more spirited and unique feature was its innovative window-
dignified than any other commercial office washing system: A motor-driven gondola
building in New York.17 It is perhaps difficult carrying two workmen, who were employed
today to imagine the impact this new type full-time for this purpose, was suspended
of glass skyscraper would have had at the from a crane that moved on tracks along
time, with its characteristic lightness and the perimeter of the roof. 19 The gondola was
transparency set against the traditional heavy guided on its vertical ascent and descent
masonry buildings of Park Avenue. Similar by steel rails projecting from and integrated
to the Secretariat, the Lever House curtain within the mullions, corresponding to the
wall consists of a continuous skin of glass centerlines of the structural columns. This
framed in metal, including wire glass span- elaborate and necessary systemthe first
drels to mask the underlying masonry, as of its kindpoints to the importance of
required by building code for fire safety. maintaining the clean, smooth surface
[3.10] The primary glass type is a single pane of glass, not only for a soap company like
of blue-green-tinted, heat-absorbing glass Lever Brothers but also for modern archi-
it was claimed at the time to block 45 percent tectures image in general.20
of the suns heatwhich is held by steel- Lever House would soon be accompa-
channel mullions clad inside and out nied, diagonally across Park Avenue, by the
with sixteen-gauge stainless steel. [3.11] thirty-nine-story Seagram Building (1958),
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 36
Concept and Construct

3.12
Seagram Building,
New York, New York,
Mies van der Rohe in
collaboration with Philip
Johnson and Kahn and
Jacobs, 1958

3.13
Seagram Building, typi-
cal tower floor plan

designed by Mies van der Rohe in collabora-

tion with Philip Johnson and the firm
Kahn and Jacobs.21 [3.12 + 3.13] The steel-
framed Seagram Building was the first
major office building designed by Mies
(he was seventy-two years old at the time),
and it was the fullest expression to date
of the ideas he first explored in the 1920s.
Notable for its pure massing, with no set-
backs, and the creation of a public plaza at
the street edge, the building brought a new
aesthetic to the office building type, one that
would be taken up with great fervor by archi- 3.12
tects, including SOM, in the years that fol-
lowed. In contrast to the blue-green coolness
of Lever House, the Seagram Building is
characterized by a darker, warmer tone, result-
ing from a continuous curtain wall of bronze-
tinted glass with bronze spandrel panels
and projecting mullions installed outside of
the building structure. [3.14] Unlike Lever
House and the Secretariat, the Seagram
Buildings curtain wall contains glass panels
that extend unbroken from floor to ceiling.
The glass is supported by custom-extruded,
vertical mullions suspended off the floor
slabs by steel angles. These I-shaped mul-
lions provide the structural component of
the curtain wall, spanning floor to floor, and
are placed on the exterior side of the glass,
as opposed to the interior, as was the case at
Lever House and the Secretariat. [3.15] As
the contemporary Spanish architects Iaki
balos and Juan Herreros have noted, the
exterior positioning of the mullion gave the
facade some depth and a machinelike appear- 3.13
ance but provided no technological advantage.22
In fact, this positioning was problematic in
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 37

3.15

3.14 that it exposed the mullion to weathering

Seagram Building,
and to thermal expansion and contraction.
under construction
The Seagram Buildings curtain wall system
3.15 begins at the ceiling of the lobby, giving the
Seagram Building, impression of a floating mass while expos-
typical mullion plan
detail
ing the structural columns at ground level.
3.14 Mumford found Miess curtain wall to
3.16 be a wholly suitable solution:
Seagram Building
corner
The faces of the building, instead of being an
expression of the structure, are frankly and
boldly a mask, designed to give pleasure to
the eye and to complement, rather than to
reveal, the coarser structure form behind it.
This is, after all, a logical treatment of the
curtain wall, for the very nature of a cur-
tain is to be detached from the structure,
not to support it.23 [3.16]

Although the Seagram Building was

Miess largest curtain wall project to date,
it was certainly not his first. In the years
leading up to it, he had completed a series
of high-rise residential buildings that clearly
illustrate the evolution of his curtain wall
design, particularly with respect to the relative
positioning of structure and cladding. The
earliest of these, built on Chicagos South Side,
was the Promontory Apartments (1949), in
which the reinforced-concrete frame is clearly
exposed and expressed, with an infill of
masonry spandrels and recessed steel-framed
windows. [3.17 + 3.18] For the same client,
developer Herbert Greenwald, Mies then
designed 860880 Lake Shore Drive (1951) on
the North Side. Consisting of two twenty-six-
3.16 story towers set at right angles and derived
from an earlier design for the Promontory
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 38
Concept and Construct

3.17
Promontory
Apartments, Chicago,
Illinois, Mies van der
Rohe, 1949

3.18
Promontory Apartments,
wall section

3.19
860880 Lake Shore
Drive, Chicago, Illinois,
Mies van der Rohe,
1951

3.20
860880 Lake Shore
Drive, wall section

3.17 3.18

3.21
900 Esplanade,
Chicago, Illinois, Mies
van der Rohe, 1956

3.22
900 Esplanade, wall sec-
tion

3.23
Seagram Building, wall
section, Mies van der
Rohe in collaboration
with Philip Johnson and
Kahn and Jacobs, 1958

3.24
Inland Steel Building,
Chicago, Illinois,
Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, 1958

3.19 3.20
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 39

3.21 3.24

Apartments, this project is considered a sion of slab thickness, thereby maximizing

milestone in Miess work. It was at this point the proportion of glass. As Phyllis Lambert
that he first developed the vocabulary of writes, 900 Esplanade was the experiment
skyscraper curtain walls that would occupy that Mies would elaborate and refine in the
much of his remaining career and would Seagram Building, which became the iconic
influence countless others. [3.19 + 3.20] embodiment of the Miesian tall building. 25
The glass is still positioned within the struc- Indeed, the Seagram Building section reveals
tural frame but is now flush with its outer that the curtain wall is now completely free
3.22
surface. Black-painted steel plates, in the of the structure, passing uninterrupted
same plane as the glass, cover the edge outside the edge of the frame. [3.23]
beams and columns. The glass is held in The Secretariat, Lever House, and the
place using anodized-aluminum glazing Seagram Building were soon followed by
frames, incorporating operable hopper other high-rise buildings that further
windows, which are in turn supported by explored the curtain wall concept and its
projecting mullions of black-painted rolled- relationship to structure. At the Inland Steel
steel I-sections. The welded-steel curtain Building (1958) in Chicago, SOM adheres to
wall frames were fabricated in units, two the Miesian strategy of an exterior expres-
stories high by 21 feet (6.4 meters) wide, and sion of structurenot only for the curtain
then hoisted into place.24 One block to the wall mullions, but also for the building
north, Greenwald commissioned another structure. By relegating elevators and other
pair of apartment buildings from Mies for services to a separate tower and inverting
900 Esplanade (1956). In these towers, the the structural columns to the outside of the
curtain wall fully encases the reinforced- curtain wall, they were able to create unob-
concrete flat-slab structure; the glass plane structed office floors. The curtain wall itself
is set twelve inches beyond the outer sur- incorporates stainless steel for the mullion
face of the structural column. Miess trade- cladding, spandrel panels, and column cov-
mark projecting mullions are present but ers. [3.24] The Inland Steel Building was
are now formed of extruded aluminum, the first fully air-conditioned high-rise in
thus reducing the dichotomy of steel mul- Chicago and the first to use double-pane
lion and aluminum glazing frame found in insulating glass.26 The Corning Glass Works
the previous project. [3.21 + 3.22] In contrast Building (1959) in New York City was
to the clear glass at 860880 Lake Shore designed by Wallace K. Harrison, the chief
Drive, a newly developed gray-tinted, heat- architect of the Secretariat, and represents
absorbing glass appears to merge with its a major advancement in the configuration
black aluminum framing, giving the facades of the mullion. [3.25] Rather than an assem-
an abstract uniformity. Due to the elimina- bly of disparate parts clad in a finish mate-
tion of perimeter beams and ceiling cavities, rial like stainless steel, the mullions at the
3.23 the spandrel is reduced to a minimal expres- Corning building consist solely of extruded-
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 40
Concept and Construct

3.25 3.26

3.25
Corning Glass Works
Building, New York,
New York, Wallace K.
Harrison, 1959

3.26
Corning Glass Works
Building, typical mullion
plan details

3.27
Manufacturers Hanover
Trust Building, New
3.27 York, New York,
Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, 1954

aluminum sections shaped to interlock. Building incorporates the largest polished

Neoprene gaskets are used to seal joints. plate-glass panels available at the time
The functions of curtain wall substructure, 1/2-inch (1.27-centimeter) thick, measuring
glazing frame, and finished surface are 9 by 13 feet (2.7 by 4 meters)set within a
fully integrated. [3.26] This type of dynamic delicate frame of silver-anodized extruded-
(or split) mullion is still common today, aluminum mullions. [3.28] The vertical
though more attention is now paid to mullions follow the Miesian prototype of
thermal bridging issues. projecting I-shaped extrusions, but, in this
Low- and mid-rise office buildings were case, the mullion detail reveals that the glaz-
also sites for curtain wall experimentation. ing channel is hidden behind the alumi-
Notable examples include two New York proj- num I-section and the spandrel plates,
ects by SOM: the four-story Manufacturers resulting in a curtain wall of remarkable
Hanover Trust (MHT) Building (1954) and transparency and simplicity, and one reduced
the eleven-story Pepsi-Cola Building (1960). to its essential elements. [3.29] Another ele-
[3.27] Highly unusual for a bank building at gant incarnation of the midcentury curtain
the time, the MHT Building incorporates wall is found at the Jespersen Building (1956)
extensive use of clear glass. It did not suffer in Copenhagen, Denmark, designed by Arne
from significant overheating, however, due to Jacobsen. [3.30] Due to a requirement for
nearly constant shade provided by the taller automobile traffic to pass under the building
surrounding buildings.27 The banks 1,000-ton at the ground floor, the building mass is
safe deposit vault is located just ten feet raised on two massive columns at the center,
behind the curtain wall at ground level, fully from which each floor is cantilevered 18 feet
on display for passersby. The Pepsi-Cola (5.5 meters) on each side. The curtain wall
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 41

3.28
Pepsi-Cola Building,
New York, New York,
Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, 1960

3.29
Pepsi-Cola Building,
typical mullion plan
detail

is hung off the slab at each floor. [3.31]

Though somewhat technologically crude
the mullions are wood faced with aluminum
sheetsthe curtain wall achieves the refined
impression of a floating wall enhanced by
the complete lack of any interior structure
visible through the glass.28
Although the commercial building was
perhaps the curtain walls most visible man-
ifestation, it was not the only type in which
the curtain wall found expression at mid-
century. A brief look at some of the institu-
tional, educational, and residential buildings
3.28 that incorporated curtain walls tells a more
complete history. Mies himself designed
some twenty buildings for teaching, research,
and housing on the Chicago campus of the
Illinois Institute of Technology (formerly the
Armour Institute of Technology), where he
had been director since 1938.29 These build-
ingsranging from the Minerals and Metals
3.29
Research Building (1943) to S. R. Crown Hall
(1956)were low-rise frame structures, and
they can be seen in retrospect as a workshop
where Mies developed his approach to metal
and glass that defined his later work. On the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology cam-
pus in Cambridge, Eero Saarinen designed
the Kresge Auditorium (1955), a 1,200-seat
concert hall covered by a distinctive thin-shell
concrete dome that touches the ground at
three points. [3.32] As the dome rises to a
height of fifty feet (15 meters), the space
below is enclosed by a minimal steel-framed
curtain wall with clear glass that allows the
lobby space to function symbolically as an
extension of the exterior plaza. [3.33] From
outside looking in, the curtain wall appears
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 42
Concept and Construct

3.30
Jespersen Building,
Copenhagen, Denmark,
Arne Jacobsen, 1956

3.31
Jespersen Building,
ground-floor plan,
upper-floor plan, and
section

3.30

3.31
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 43

3.32 3.33

3.32 + 3.33 to hang from the edge of the concrete shell;

Kresge Auditorium,
in reality, thin steel columns support it from
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Eero Saarinen, 1955 behind the glass. A steel-framed curtain wall
is also used to great effect at Keokuk Senior
3.34 + 3.35 High School and Community College (1954)
Keokuk Senior High School
and Community College,
in Keokuk, Iowa, designed by Perkins and
Keokuk, Iowa, Perkins and Will, a firm long known for innovation in
Will, 1954 school planning. [3.34 + 3.35] A three-story
classroom wing is organized with a wide
corridor to the south that connects adjacent
classrooms and provides expansive views
of an amphitheater outside. The corridor is
enclosed entirely by a curtain wall of clear
glass in steel mullions, with six-inch-deep
projecting exterior steel fins and bottom-
hinged ventilating sashes dispersed through-
out the grid. [3.36 + 3.37] As observed in a
1954 Architectural Forum review, the trans-
parency of the curtain wall makes visible
3.34
the social activities of the school: At class
changes, the whole facade suddenly becomes
a fascinating theater of strolling, conversing,
criss-crossing adolescents. 30
The concept of the curtain wall as an
expansion of the window into an enveloping
enclosure system was employed even at the
scale of the freestanding single-family resi-
dence. Three compact and iconic modern
houses, all completed within a two-year period,
best demonstrate this phenomenon: the
Glass House, the Farnsworth House, and the
Eames House. In each, a steel frame provides
the structure, while non-load-bearing walls
of glass and other lightweight materials pro-
vide enclosure. These boxy houses appear
almost as individual floors of urban sky-
scrapers, pulled out like dresser drawers and
3.35 deposited on their idyllic sites. Although
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 44
Concept and Construct

3.36
Keokuk Senior High
School and Community
College, section,
Keokuk, Iowa, Perkins
and Will, 1954

3.37
Keokuk Senior High
School and Community
College, floor plan

3.36

completed first, Philip Johnsons Glass House these materials within the facade is influenced 3.37

(1949), in New Canaan, Connecticut, was by the function of the spaces within, providing
inspired by Miess earlier designs for the varying degrees of transparency or privacy as
Farnsworth House (1951), in Plano, Illinois.31 appropriate. The Eames House established an
[3.38 + 3.39] Both feature a rectilinear, free enduring example of a curtain wall used not
plan with an internal service core and a con- merely as a neutral, consistent grid but as a
tinuous perimeter wall of large plate-glass mutable and responsive system of enclosure.
panels set within a steel frame. There are The influential curtain wall designs of
subtle differences. The Glass House sits the 1950s, as pioneered by SOM, Mies, and
directly on a brick base, while the Farnsworth others, were received by the architectural
House is elevated off the ground. In the Glass profession and the construction industry as
House, the steel frame is painted black, while prototypical systems that could be easily
Farnsworths is white. The glass in the Glass manufactured and endlessly repeated (usually
House is set at the exterior face of the columns; with some variation in aesthetic or an occa-
at Farnsworth, the columns project, with the sional innovation in technique). Lever House,
glass set at their interior faces. In both cases, Banham wrote, was an uncontrollable suc-
though, the overriding characteristic is that of cess that, along with the Seagram Building,
literal transparency, achieved through the dis- would be imitated to the point of tedium. 33
solution of the traditional wall. The Eames Many cities around the world would soon
House (1949), in Pacific Palisades, California, have their own versions of Lever House and
illustrates a more eccentric approach in which the Seagram Building. Along with the curtain
color, composition, and variation in purpose walls widespread propagation came an inevi-
rather than literal transparencyare the table backlash. An article pointedly titled
defining attributes of the facade. Officially The Monotonous Curtain Wall appeared in
known as Case Study House #8 (commis- Architectural Forum in October 1959, offer-
sioned by Arts & Architecture magazine), ing the following indictment of the status
the building was designed by Charles and quo in contemporary architecture:
Ray Eames to demonstrate an artful and
innovative use of industrial technology in The standard curtain wallperhaps
response to postwar housing needs. Four-inch Americas single most important building
(0.1-meter) steel H-columns provide the innovation in the past decade or sois
structural framework (erected in just a day fast becoming, in the hands of less-than-
and a half), establishing an organizing module sensitive architects and manufacturers,
within which a grid of panels is set.32 [3.40] The one of the most irritating eyesores on
infill panels vary from painted cementitious the U.S. scene.34
panels in a range of colors to transparent,
translucent, and wired glass. In addition to a Just as Colin Rowe lamented that the
personal aesthetic agenda, the arrangement of frame structure eventually came to represent
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 45

3.38
Glass House, New
Canaan, Connecticut,
Philip Johnson, 1949

3.39
Farnsworth House,
Plano, Illinois, Mies van
der Rohe, 1951

3.38

3.39
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 46
Concept and Construct

3.40
Eames House, Pacific
Palisades, California,
Charles and Ray Eames,
1949

3.40

the nakedly irresponsible agent of a too visible just outside the shop window.
ruthless commercialism,35 the gridded glass- Architectural critics were generally correct
and-metal curtain wall was soon equated in pointing out that the main problem was
with a menacingly anonymous and ubiqui- the manner in which architects and builders
tous corporate culture. This critique of the were unimaginatively deploying the curtain
curtain wall was international in scope and wall, not in the idea of the curtain wall itself
even reached into popular culture. See, for as a method of construction. Huxtable wrote
instance, the French director Jacques Tatis in 1966, The glass box is the most maligned
1967 film Play Time, in which the protagonist building idea of our time, but It is also one
struggles to find his way through a future of the best.36 In the following decades, archi-
version of Paris composed entirely of monot- tects would seem to engage with the prevail-
onous glass skyscrapers, each sporting an ing criticism, exploring new vocabularies for
identical curtain wall. At one point, a charac- the curtain wall beyond the dogma of high
ter visits a travel agency and sees posters modernism and developing new solutions
advertising various destinations around to the inherent, and soon to become highly
the worldall of them featuring an image problematic, environmental inadequacies
of a skyscraper indistinguishable from those of the midcentury curtain wall.
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Curtain Wall 47

Endnotes
1 Ada Louise Huxtable, Mies: Lessons from the 18 Jrgen Joedicke, Office Buildings (New York:
Master, Will They Ever Finish Bruckner Frederick A. Praeger, 1962), 94. First published
Boulevard? (New York: Macmillan, 1970), 205. in German in 1959.
First published in the New York Times, February 19 Lever House, New York: Glass and Steel Walls,
6, 1966. Architectural Record, June 1952, 13035.
2 These three buildings were preceded by Pietro 20 Hillary Sample, Maintenance Architecture,
Belluschis Equitable Savings and Loan Praxis, 6 (2004): 10613.
Association Building (1948), a twelve-story office 21 Stern, Mellins, and Fishman, Seagram Building,
building in Portland, Oregon, clad with a flush New York 1960, 34252.
skin of glass and aluminum panels. The articula- 22 Iaki balos and Juan Herreros, Tower and
tion of the curtain wall, however, retained a strong Office: From Modernist Theory to Contemporary
expression of the structural grid rather than a Practice (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003), 113.
continuous skin of glass, which is the innovation 23 Lewis Mumford, The Skyline: The Lesson of the
of later towers. Master, the New Yorker, September 13, 1958, 143.
3 The United Nations was established in 1945. The 24 Carter, Mies van der Rohe at Work, 46.
design process for the UN Headquarters in New 25 Phyllis Lambert, ed., Mies in America (New York:
York began in 1947. Groundbreaking took place in H.N. Abrams, 2001), 374. Lambert herself was
1948, and the original complex was completed in instrumental in convincing her father, Samuel
1952. See Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins, and Bronfman, the president of Seagram and
David Fishman, United Nations, New York Company, to hire Mies for the Seagram Building.
1960: Architecture and Urbanism between the 26 Lawrence Okrent, Inland Steel Building,
Second World War and the Bicentennial (New AIA Guide to Chicago (Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt,
York: Monacelli, 1995), 60140. 2004), 67.
4 As reported in The Secretariat: A Campanile, a 27 Stern, Mellins, and Fishman, Seagram Building,
Cliff of Glass, a Great Debate, Architectural New York 1960, 374.
Forum, November 1950, 108. 28 Joedicke, Office Buildings, 19293.
5 Stern, Mellins, and Fishman, New York 1960, 613. 29 Jean-Louis Cohen, Mies van der Rohe (Basel:
6 Lewis Mumford, Magic with Mirrors, From the Birkhuser, 2007), 1049. First published in 1994.
Ground Up: Observations on Contemporary 30 Sprawling Campus-Type High School
Architecture, Housing, Highway Building, and Contradicts Dogma, Architectural Forum,
Civic Design (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1956), October 1954, 11219.
37. The essay was originally published in 31 Frampton, Modern Architecture, 240.
the New Yorker in 1951. 32 Gloria Koenig, Charles & Ray Eames (Cologne:
7 Lewis Mumford, A Disoriented Symbol, From Taschen, 2005), 329.
the Ground Up, 49. The essay was originally pub- 33 Banham, Age of the Masters, 11415.
lished in the New Yorker in 1951. Mumford also 34 The Monotonous Curtain Wall, Architectural
quotes Henry-Russell Hitchcock saying, The most Forum, October 1959, 14247.
significant influence of the Secretariatwill, I imag- 35 Rowe, Chicago Frame, as reprinted in The
ine, be to end the use of glass walls in skyscrapers Mathematics of the Ideal Villa, 108.
certainly in those with western exposures, unless 36 Huxtable, Will They Ever Finish Bruckner
exterior elements are provided to keep the sun off Boulevard?, 205.
the glass.
8 See interview with Robert Heintges in Mr. Glass,
The Architects Newspaper, June 20, 2007.
9 Lewis Mumford, Magic with Mirrors, From the
Ground Up, 40.
10 The Secretariat: A Campanile, a Cliff of Glass, a
Great Debate, Architectural Forum, November
1950, 112.
11 David DArcy, New Scenery for the Worlds
Stage, The Architects Newspaper, June 25,
2008.
12 Banham, The Architecture of the Well-tempered
Environment, 15658.
13 Kenneth Frampton, Le Corbusier: Architect and
Visionary (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001),
1013.
14 Elisabetta Andreoli and Adrian Forty, Brazils
Modern Architecture (New York: Phaidon Press,
2004), 113.
15 Banham, The Architecture of the Well-tempered
Environment, 158.
16 Mumford, House of Glass, From the Ground
Up, 156.
17 Lever House Complete, Architectural Forum,
June 1952, 104.
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 48
Concept and Construct

New Directions
and New Priorities

4.1
New Directions and New Priorities 49

4.2 4.3

4.1 + 4.2 Beginning in the 1960s and continuing auditorium building, and an engineering
Deere and Company
Headquarters, Moline,
to the present day, the approach to the cur- wingis nestled into its wooded suburban
Illinois, Eero Saarinen tain wall has been characterized by diverse site, only occasionally emerging into view
and Associates, 1964 strategies, due in part to the vicissitudes from the dense surrounding foliage. The
of architectural fashion at large and to the exterior of the building is characterized
4.3
Partial wall section growing impact of global environmental by an external structural skeleton of wide-
and economic forces. It seems that each flange steel members and a system of steel
new decade has brought with it a new brise-soleil that project forward from a
design doctrinepostmodernism, high- backdrop of gold-tinted reflective glass.
tech, deconstructivism, critical regionalism, Saarinen found inspiration in the iron and
green architectureand the curtain wall steel farm machinery manufactured by the
concept has been transformed in response. John Deere Company, and he translated this
Energy crises in the 1970s and again in the influence into a critique of what he called
early twenty-first century, as well as the the slick, precise, glittering glass box:
rise of an environmentalist sensibility, have
resulted in widespread and ongoing reeval- Having decided to use steel, we wanted
uation of architecture in general and a to make a building that was really a steel
refocusing on the performance of the build- building (most so-called steel buildings
ing envelope. The curtain walls endurance seem to me to be more glass buildings than
through this turbulent period demonstrates steel buildings, really not one thing or the
that it is indeed a mutable concept, capable other). We sought for an appropriate mate-
of adapting to nearly any design strategy, rialeconomical, maintenance free, bold
from minimalist transparency to the histori- in character, dark in color.1
cist nostalgia of postmodernism. A study of
several buildings from this period will illus- For the steel, Saarinen specified an alloy
trate how the curtain wall has adapted to known as weathering steel (and by the trade
various stylistic impulses while also incorpo- name Cor-ten) that resists corrosion by form-
rating incremental advances in technology. ing a continuous outer coating of iron oxide
At the John Deere & Company to protect the steel within. The material thus
Headquarters (1964) in Moline, Illinois, naturally develops a dark reddish-brown color
Eero Saarinen and Associates designed tone and does not require painting. Saarinen
a curtain wall that seamlessly melded was the first to use weathering steel, originally
the Miesian vocabulary of glass and steel used in railroad and bridge construction, in
with Le Corbusiers brise-soleil concept, an architectural application. He described the
resulting in a strikingly unique and influen- impetus of the curtain wall design as:
tial building. [4.1] This complex of three
linked buildingsa seven-story administra- Having selected a site because of the
tion building, a public exhibition and beauty of nature, we were anxious to take
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 50
Concept and Construct

4.4
College Life Insurance
Building, Indianapolis,
Indiana, Roche and John
Dinkeloo, 1971

4.4

full advantage of views from offices. To the completion of many of his largest com-
avoid curtains or Venetian blinds, which missions, his posthumous influence was
would obscure the views, we worked out evident in the work of architects who emerged
a system of sun shading with metal louvers from his office to form their own practices,
and also specified reflective glass to pre- including Kevin Roche (who oversaw com-
vent glare.2 [4.2] pletion of the Deere complex in Saarinens
absence), Gunnar Birkerts, and Cesar Pelli.
The gold-tinted reflective-coated glass, a The multilayered metal-and-glass curtain
relatively new product at the time, reportedly wall of the Deere Headquarters has likewise
rejected up to 70 percent of heat striking the been an enduring influence on architects, as
surface.3 Though mirrorlike by day, reflecting is apparent in several of the contemporary
the adjacent steel sunshades and tree branches, case studies featured later in this book.
this glass is fully transparent from the inte- Following in the footsteps of pioneering
rior; at night, with interior lighting, the glass work by Saarinen and others, reflective
becomes transparent from the exterior as coated glass came into widespread use in
well. The laminated glass is supported by curtain walls in the late 1960s and into the
vertical wide-flange steel mullions, to which 1970s, though not often treated with the sen-
it is attached through the use of continuous sitivity that Saarinens buildings displayed.
neoprene glazing gaskets. Together, the reflec- An interesting example is the College Life
tive coating and brise-soleil provide effective Insurance Company Building (1971) in
protection against solar heat gain and glare Indianapolis, Indiana, designed by Roche
at the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. [4.3] and John Dinkeloo. The building consists
Concurrently with the Deere Headquarters, of three linked pyramidal volumes, each
Saarinens office was planning two other eleven stories tall. [4.4] The towers are orga-
major corporate commissions: IBMs nized with service cores in an L-shape along
Thomas J. Watson Research Center (1961) two perimeter concrete walls and open office
in Yorktown Heights, New York, and Bell space enclosed by two sloping, reflective-
Laboratories (1962) in Holmdel, New Jersey. glass curtain walls suspended from concrete
Both are immense, pristine volumes clad floor slabs. This plan establishes a strong
primarily in glass. Notable for their sheer duality of opacity and reflectivity, with the
sizeIBM has a curving gray glass wall opaque core walls facing the nearby highway
measuring 1,000 feet (300 meters) long and and the reflective glass walls opening out
Bell Labs is a five-story reflective glass box toward the landscaped site. The simple yet
totaling 700 feet (210 meters) in length unusual massing, combined with the reflec-
these buildings lack the site specificity and tivity of the glass surface, lends the building
intelligent solar-control strategies of the an overriding abstract quality, which would
Deere Headquarters. Although Saarinen come to define a new trend: the reincarnation
died in 1961 at the age of fifty-one, before of the glass box as a mirrored sculptural
New Directions and New Priorities 51

4.5 + 4.6
John Hancock Tower,
Boston, Massachusetts,
I. M. Pei and Partners,
1976

object. Though originally well received by

the press, the structure was not without its
technical problems. Soon after the building
was occupied, the curtain wall mullions were
found to be inadequate to resist wind loads;
problems of leakage and glass breakage
occurred in about half of the buildings 4,000
insulating glass units, eventually requiring
complete replacement of the curtain wall.4
Another, much larger example of the
shift toward the abstract, scaleless curtain
4.5 wall is found at the sixty-story John Hancock
Tower (1976) in Boston, Massachusetts,
primarily designed by Henry N. Cobb of
I. M. Pei and Partners. [4.5] The tower is a
surreal variation on the midcentury glass
box, with two-way transparency exchanged
for one-way reflectivity and the pure rectan-
gular plan warped into a rhomboid shape.
The curtain wall consists of more than
10,000 large panels of reflective coated glass
(originally insulating glass, but later replaced
with monolithic glass) supported in a grid
of extruded-aluminum mullions. The glass
panels, measuring about 4.5 by 11.5 feet (1.4
by 3.5 meters), extend continuously from
floor to floor with no spandrels (a condition
made possible by the inclusion of sprinklers
and other life-safety measures).5 [4.6] The
Miesian I-shaped mullion is still present,
but rather than projecting outward from
the glass surface, it is subsumed into the
wall, in service to the ideal of a totally flush
surface. The John Hancock Tower was con-
troversial in nearly every respect, from its
siting on the edge of historic Copley Square
to its height and facade treatment. Perhaps
4.6 its greatest controversy involved a famous
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 52
Concept and Construct

4.7 + 4.8
Willis Faber and Dumas
Building, Ipswich,
England, Foster +
Partners, 1975

4.7

4.8
New Directions and New Priorities 53

4.9 4.10

4.9 glass failure: during a strong storm in January glazing frames, the glass-to-glass joint is
Allied Bank Tower,
Dallas, Texas, I. M. Pei
1973, with the building nearing completion, minimized to the width of a silicone seal.
and Partners, 1986 dozens of glass lites broke and fell down along At the sidewalk, the glass disappears into a
the west facade, further damaging hundreds slot in the pavement, a further testament
4.10
of additional lites. The origin of the failure was to the rigor of the all-glass design. The half-
Mullion plan details at
spandrel glass (left) and determined to be related to stresses caused inch-thick tempered glass is bronze-tinted
vision glass (right) by thermal expansion of the large insulating and reflective, resulting in a stark contrast
glass panels, and eventually all of the glass between its daytime and nighttime appear-
was replaced with new monolithic tempered ance, while the overall design strikes a balance
lites.6 In a thorough review of the newly between abstraction and technological
completed building and its complicated his- showboating. Although not practical for
tory of glass breakage, critic William Marlin tall buildings, Fosters suspended glass-fin
appreciated the towers clean, crisp surfaces wall has since been used extensively in
despite its technical troubles, observing that smaller-scale buildings and discrete spaces
when the play of light and clouds is right, such as lobbies and storefronts, and it has
the building verges on the ethereal, almost been adapted for use with insulating glass
disappearing. 7 To many other critics, how- and various other structural backup sys-
ever, the 1970s mirror-glass office building, tems, such as cable trusses and nets.
typified by the John Hancock Tower, was Structural silicone glazing was another
as forbidding, anti-social, and hostile as a technology that became important in the
person wearing mirror sunglasses. 8 drive to minimize framing while maximizing
Norman Foster achieved a major advance- glass surface area. The concept of using sili-
ment in the quest for a continuous glass cone sealant as a means of fixing glass to its
skina modernist holy grail since Miess 1921 supporting mullionessentially gluing the
projectin his design of the Willis Faber glass onto its frame with no other mechani-
and Dumas Headquarters (1975) in Ipswich, cal means of attachmenthad first been
England. [4.7] Amorphous in plan but follow- proposed in the 1960s. After extensive testing
ing the shape of the site, the three-story office and small-scale applications, structural sili-
building is enclosed in a continuous wall of cone came into mainstream use in the United
glass; remarkably, it utilizes no metal mullions States in the 1980s. The prismatic Allied
for support. Recognizing the inherent tensile Bank Tower (1986) in Dallas, Texas, designed
strength of glass, the entire curtain wall is by I. M. Pei and Partners, was at the time of
hung from a rail along the roof of the build- its completion the tallest structural silicone-
ing, with each piece of glass bolted to the glazed curtain wall in the world, with more
one above with stainless-steel patch plates. than 450,000 square feet (42,000 square
For lateral stability, monolithic glass fins are meters) of surface area.9 [4.9 + 4.10] This
hung from the underside of each cantile- fifty-nine-story steel-framed tower is clad
vered floor slab. [4.8] With no mullions or entirely in reflective green-tinted glass that
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 54
Concept and Construct

is structurally glazed, on all four sides, to fashion under the leadership of Philip
frames of anodized extruded aluminum. Johnson, a small but remarkable building in
The curtain wall units were assembled in upstate New York quietly forged an impor-
a factory to ensure the essential precision tant new direction, dealing with issues that
and quality control required for structural would become increasingly urgent in com-
silicone application. Prior to installation, ing decades. The Hooker Office Building
a mock-up of the curtain wall was tested for (1980), later known as the Occidental Chemical
resistance to wind pressure and rain, and Building, by Cannon Design, is a nine-story
once installed, the curtain wall units were cube situated along the Niagara River in
tested on site to confirm adequate perfor- Niagara Falls, New York. [4.11 + 4.12] The
mance.10 These procedures reflect a growing defining feature of this building is its double-
understanding of the science of the curtain skin glass curtain wall. The projects dual
wall as well as increased expectations for goals of energy efficiency and maximization
performance. Testing of custom curtain of views led the architects to the concept of
walls, both in mock-ups and in the field, is a double-envelope. [4.13] Maximizing glass
standard practice today. area on the facades would provide the desired
As the modern curtain wall veered in views and decrease necessity for artificial
the direction of reflective abstraction, some lighting. The inherent problem of heat loss
architects began to experiment with an alter- during winter would be addressed by creat-
native design vocabulary to challenge the ing an insulating air cavity between two
dominance of modernism. Though its precise walls of glass. The potential for overheating
definition has been much debated, the term during summer would be diminished by
postmodernism emerged to describe a new incorporating adjustable sunshade louvers
movement that reached its pinnacle of influ- and natural ventilation in the cavity. Using
ence in the 1980s. As journalist and historian solar cells, the louvers track the sun, adjust-
William Curtis described the phenomenon in ing automatically (with manual override) to
1984, The mission is to save the American city maintain optimum solar control. The outer
from an excess of industrial standardization and inner skins, separated by a space of
and the abstract glass box. The prognosis is 4 feet (1.2 meters), comprise simple curtain
in the use of metaphors and historical asso- walls with white-painted extruded-aluminum
ciations. 11 Philip Johnsons AT&T Building mullions on 5-foot (1.5-meter) centers. A cat-
(1984), in New York City, is emblematic of walk within the cavity provides access at
the values and priorities of postmodernism: each level for maintenance. The outer skin
a rebuke of modernist dogma in favor of overt incorporates green-tinted insulating glass,
historicism, vernacular references, a jokey while the inner is floor-to-ceiling clear glass.
demeanor, and pop iconography. Johnson, [4.14] A review in Progressive Architecture
who had worked with Mies on the design of three years after the buildings completion
the Seagram Building twenty-five years ear- found it to be an energy tour de force. The
lier, reconceived the commercial skyscraper expected mechanical systems contract had
as a stone monument with a pedimented been cut nearly in half, the building came in
crown, the glass reduced to relatively small under the owners original budget, and the
windows punched into massive opaque gas-fired boiler had never been used for heat.13
walls. Although projecting a traditional The Hooker Office Buildings double-skin
masonry aesthetic, the thirty-six-story AT&T curtain wall was incredibly prescient. With
Building still relies on a steel frame structure; dramatic results, it intelligently combined
the stone cladding is merely a nonstructural Le Corbusiers earlier visions of the neutral-
skina curtain wall. Granite panels, varying izing wall and the brise-soleil. Unfortunately,
from two to five inches thick, are individu- due to apparent neglect and lack of tenants,
ally anchored to a back-up structure of the building has fallen into disrepair. It still
vertical steel tubes spanning from floor to stands, however, as an important precedent
floor.12 In this way, even as the purity of the for architects struggling to resolve the some-
glass box aesthetic lost favor, architects times dueling demands of experiential
found the curtain wall to be a neutral tech- quality and energy efficiency.
nology, adaptable to wide array of design In naming Jean Nouvel the Pritzker Prize
ideologies, even those with short life spans. Laureate of 2008, the jury cited the archi-
Around the same time that postmodern- tects courageous pursuit of new ideas and
ism was making its impact on architectural his challenge of accepted norms in order
New Directions and New Priorities 55

4.11 4.12

4.11 + 4.12 to stretch the boundaries of the field. 14 thousands of moving parts, was perhaps
Hooker Office
Building, Niagara Falls,
These qualities are apparent in the project inevitable. Many of the diaphragms no longer
New York, Cannon that first brought Nouvel to international move at all, due in part to limited mainte-
Design, 1980 attention: the Arab World Institute (1987) nance budgets, and those that do move are
in Paris.15 [4.15] Built as part of the Grand now controlled by a central computer rather
4.13 Projets program initiated by French presi- than the original photocells.16 Despite such
Typical floor plan dent Franois Mitterand in the early 1980s, setbacks, the Arab World Institutelike the
the institute is best known for its unique Hooker Office Building before it was an
4.14
Wall section
and highly complex curtain wall design. important experiment, promoting the notion
On the south facade of the building, Nouvel of an intelligent curtain wall system that
deploys a sun-shading device that is integral could automatically respond to changing
with the curtain wall and imbues it with a environmental conditions while presenting
character that is not merely functionalist but a unique aesthetic expression.
also symbolic and poetic. The curtain wall Nouvels approach is characterized by
itself consists of conventional double-pane experimentation and a faith in contempo-
insulating glass, set within prefabricated rary solutions. He has said:
story-high units of extruded aluminum fram-
ing and suspended outside the buildings My interest has always been in an architec-
structural frame. Behind the insulating glass, ture which reflects the modernity of our
however, is a unique layer of shutter mecha- epoch as opposed to the rethinking of histor-
nisms, similar in operation to those in a ical references. My work deals with what is
4.14
camera lens. These shutters, or diaphragms, happening nowour techniques and mate-
were originally equipped with photocells that rials, what we are capable of doing today. 17
measured the amount of sunlight striking
the glass, automatically opening or closing Another influential project by Nouvel, in
the shutters to maintain optimal interior which he explicitly explores the techniques,
conditions. On the interior side of the curtain materiality, and potential immateriality of
wall, the shutter mechanisms are protected the glass curtain wall, is the headquarters
by a layer of monolithic clear glass that can for the Cartier Foundation (1994) in Paris.
be opened for maintenance access. The artic- [4.16] This eight-story steel-framed building
ulation of the shutters within the glass simul- houses a ground floor art gallery with offices
taneously references traditional Arabic above and parking below. The design is an
latticework decoration, known as mouchara- interesting exploration of layered space, and
bieh, while responding to the environmental it plays with the visual effects of alternating
conditions of a south-facing facade, achieving transparency and reflectivity. The building
both through the introduction of high-tech itself is set back from the street and enclosed
gadgetry. The eventual malfunctioning with a curtain wall of clear insulating glass.
4.13
of the shutter system, with its hundreds of Retractable fabric blinds are hung outside
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 56
Concept and Construct

4.16
Arab World Institute,
Paris, France, Jean
Nouvel, 1987

4.15

of the glass to control solar heat gain and from around the world that explore concepts
glare. [4.17] The glass walls extend horizon- of luminescence in architecture and art.
tally and vertically beyond the bounds of the In many of these projects, various glass
interior space, creating free-floating planes fabrication techniquesacid-etching, sand-
of glass. Another freestanding glass curtain blasting, laminating, and castingwere
wall, similar in module and materiality, is used to transform glass from an invisible
located along the sidewalk, literally mirror- transparent surface to a material with depth
ing the building wall beyond it and creating and presence, one that does not simply
an exterior space enclosed on two sides transmit or reflect light but collects and scat-
by glass. The result of this series of parallel ters it, producing a diffuse glow and hazy
curtain walls is an intriguing and ambigu- shadows. The idea of a translucent glass skin
ous visual appearanceone is not certain is certainly not without precedent in modern
which walls enclose space and which do not. architecture. Earlier examples include the
The building suggests an affinity with the Maison de Verre (1932) in Paris by Pierre
work of artist Dan Graham, whose steel and Chareau and Bernard Bijvoet, the Museum
glass pavilions likewise explore the effects of Modern Art (1939) in New York City by
of transparency and reflectivity on the expe- Philip S. Goodwin and Edward Durrell Stone,
rience of space.18 At the Cartier Foundation, and the Johnson Wax Building Research
these effects draw passersby into the site Tower (1951) in Racine, Wisconsin, by Frank
to explore the ground-floor gallery and Lloyd Wright. [4.18 + 4.19] Two buildings
courtyards, which are open to the public. from the late 1990s stand out as innovative
The curtain wall is thus employed not only reinterpretations of this tradition: the
for the enclosure of a building but also for Kunsthaus (1997) in Bregenz, Austria, by
rhetorical effect, exploiting the glass curtain Peter Zumthor, and the Kursaal Auditorium
walls ability to physically divide while and Congress Center (1999) in San Sebastin,
visually connecting disparate spaces. Spain, by Rafael Moneo.
The conditions of transparency and reflec- The Kunsthaus is a contemporary art
tivity dominated architectural discourse on museum located near the shore of Lake
building envelopes for much of the twenti- Constance. [4.20 + 4.21] The building enve-
eth century, motivated by technical as well lope is composed of two layers: an outer
as aesthetic and experiential impulses. By the skin of translucent glass, which stands about
end of the century, however, there was a 3 feet (90 centimeters) in front of an inner
palpable interest among certain architects wall of concrete and glass. The outer layer,
to work with the more complicated condition wrapping around all four sides of the build-
of translucency. This tendency was given offi- ing, is constructed of hundreds of identical
cial recognition by the Museum of Modern panels of laminated glass. The panels are
Art in New York City, with its 1995 exhibition supported not by continuous frames but
Light Construction, featuring several projects by intermittent stainless-steel angles at
New Directions and New Priorities 57

4.16 + 4.17
Fondation Cartier, Paris,
France, Jean Nouvel,
1994

the top and bottom corners of each panel.

The glass, which has been given an acid-
etched surface treatment, is arranged in a
shinglelike manner, with the top and one
side of each panel tilted behind the edges
of the adjacent panels. Because the entire
building is covered with these translucent
glass shingles, there are no direct views
into the building from the outside. Rather,
there is the ambiguous suggestion of what
lies beyond the surfaceshadows of the fine
steel substructure that supports the outer
4.16 skin, faint indications of the concrete wall
behind, and the diffuse glow of interior
lighting at night. The Kunsthaus was among
the first buildings to use an exterior applica-
tion of acid-etched glass, produced by pour-
ing a chemical bath onto its surface for a
predetermined amount of time to create a
microscopically roughened surface to scat-
ter light rays and transform the normally
reflective glass to a matte finish. Of the
external character of the curtain wall,
Zumthor wrote, It absorbs the changing
light of the sky, the haze of the lake; it reflects
light and color and gives an intimation of
its inner life according to the angle of vision,
the daylight and the weather. 19 The interior
spaces of the Kunsthaus are the true benefi-
ciaries of Zumthors ingenious approach to
the manipulation of daylight. The walls of
the galleries are made of concrete, while the
ceilings consist entirely of suspended acid-
etched glass panels. Above each ceiling is an
eight-foot tall cavity with perimeter clere-
story glass that transmits natural daylight
from the outer glass curtain wall to the
4.17 translucent ceiling, creating a glowing effect
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 58
Concept and Construct

4.18
Museum of Modern Art,
New York, New York, Philip S.
Goodwin and Edward Durrell
Stone, 1939

4.19
Johnson Wax Research Tower,
Racine, Wisonsin, Frank Lloyd
Wright, 1951

4.18 4.19

that changes with external environmental by heating and passing the glass over
conditions. The result is subtle yet power- patterned ceramic rollers to impress the
ful, serving the function of displaying art ribbed profile, while the inner is a low-iron-
while also creating an indirect connection content glass with a sandblasted surface
to the outside world. treatment. The appearance of the curtain
The Kursaal Auditorium and Congress wall changes dramatically with its atmo-
Center by Rafael Moneo occupies a promi- spheric contextin direct sun it becomes
nent site in the seaside town of San Sebastin, opaque and solid; with sunlight behind it,
Spain, where the city grid, the Urumea River, it mysteriously reveals its depth in shadow;
and the Bay of Biscay converge. In response at night it glows, reflecting off the waters
to this dramatic setting, Moneo conceived of the river and sea. [4.24]
the building as an element of the landscape, In a 1997 Architecture magazine article,
like two gigantic rocks stranded at the the curtain wall is identified as an architects
mouth of the river, forming part of the land- most substantial design outlet, the part
scape, rather than belonging to the city. 20 of the building design in which architects
The Kursaal consists of two prismatic vol- take their most creative liberties.21 This senti-
umes, one containing a large concert hall ment reflects the growing menu of glass
and the other a smaller auditorium; they products and surface treatments available
are essentially buildings within a building. from fabricators, allowing architects to cus-
[4.22] The concert hall and auditorium each tomize and fine-tune the performance and
sit within a larger shell, clad almost entirely aesthetic effect of the curtain wall. The LVMH
in a unique curtain wall system of translu- Tower (1999), in New York City, is emblem-
cent glass panels. [4.23] Like the Kunsthaus, atic of this phenomenon. Designed by Atelier
the Kursaals envelope is a double skin. A Christian de Portzamparc in association
cage of load-bearing structural steel frame- with the Hillier Group, the LVMH Tower is a
work, approximately eight feet (2.4 meters) twenty-five-story steel-framed building.
deep from inside to out, supports an exterior Its offices and showrooms are contained
skin of concave glass planks and an interior behind a complex skin of folded planes
skin of flat, sandblasted low-iron glass. and varying glass types. [4.25] In the New
Complex combinations of different glass Yorker, Paul Goldberger called it the citys
treatments and surfaces were necessary to first important small skyscraper in more
achieve the intended effects. The outer glass than a generation, remarking that the glass
skin is a composite of two different glass curtain wall has a sculptural, emotional
types, bent and laminated together, and sup- resonance that is very rarely achieved. 22
ported by horizontal aluminum mullions This sculptural quality is the result of a
anchored to the steel structure. The outer combination of two primary strategies:
layer in the laminated assembly is com- a geometrically complex form and a palette
posed of fluted textured glass, produced of unique glass treatments. The curtain
New Directions and New Priorities 59

4.20 + 4.21
Kunsthaus, Bregenz,
Austria, Peter Zumthor,
1997

4.22
Kunsthaus, section

4.22

wall (totaling approximately 45,000 square

feet, or 4,200 square meters) consists of
prefabricated units framed by extruded-
aluminum mullions in a grid that warps and
twists to follow the geometry of the facade.
[4.26] In addition to regular clear glass, the
curtain wall incorporates blue- and green-
tinted glass, as well as ultra-clear low-iron
glass. These base materials are further
enhanced with surface treatments: custom-
4.20 patterned sandblasting, ceramic frit dot
patterns, and low-E coatings. In some
areas, spandrels are completely eliminated
in favor of floor-to-floor vision glass, made
possible by the installation of sprinkler
heads in the ceiling, located just inside the
glazing. The LVMH Tower established a
tradition of innovative, experimental cur-
tain wall architecture among luxury goods
companies, to be followed by a number of
notable buildings in the early twenty-first
century: Herzog and de Meurons Prada
Flagship Store (2003) in Tokyo, SANAAs
Dior Building (2004) in Tokyo, and Kengo
Kumas LVMH Building (2004) in Osaka.
[4.274.28]
In the early twenty-first century, the
issue of sustainability increasingly pervades
our culture. In architecture, the concept
encompasses a broad range of issues, includ-
ing energy efficiency, responsible utilization
of resources, and responsiveness to local
climate, durability, and the creation of healthy
environments. As the envelope of choice for
many buildings, the curtain wall has a spe-
cific role to play in this developing paradigm.
4.21 In assessing its current role, it is instructive
to return to an influential essay from 1981.
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 60
Concept and Construct

4.23 + 4.24
Kursaal Congress
Center, San Sebastian,
Spain, Rafael Moneo,
1999

4.23 4.24

In A Wall for All Seasons, the architects would rely on the development of new high-
Mike Davies and Richard Rogers give a critical performance products with much greater
reassessment of what could be called the thermal resistance. Although not yet real-
modern architects long love affair with ized to the extent called for by Davies and
glass and transparency.23 Following the rise Rogers, the idea of interactivity in the build-
in public awareness of ecology as a science ing envelope has become a key element in
in the 1960s and the energy crises of the current concepts of the intelligent facade.
1970s, the authors noted that architects As opposed to older notions of glass skin
must recognize the inherent environmental as static and inerttypified by Miess 1920s
problems, such as excessive heat gain and projects as well as the reflective, hermeti-
loss, associated with widespread use of glass cally-sealed single glass skins of 1970s office
in certain climates. They argued, although towersa new incarnation of the glass wall
Miess early experiments in glass architec- has emerged in which the facade is designed
ture maintained an aesthetic appeal for to adapt automatically and intelligently in
architects, We were caught admiring the response to external and internal environ-
concept but with our technological panties mental conditions. In their 2003 book, Tower
around our knees. 24 They posed a series of and Office, the architects Iaki balos and
critical questions about the ideal of glass Juan Herreros describe the current trans-
architecture and its emerging problems: formation of the curtain wall from a passive
barrier to an active system:
Mies wonderwall was heavily under
attack. Must we say goodbye to glass? In recent decades, the modernist glass skin
Can we never return to the transparent absolute, thin, dematerialized, unique and
skin? Has the pendulum begun to swing passivehas given way to another concept
back again towards the leaded lights in of wall, one that is subjective, thick, palpa-
the massive walls of yesteryear? Can we ble like landscape, double-layered, and active
stave off the problem by greater feats of from the point of view of energy. . . . It is the
ingenuity? Can we ever evolve a new site at which glass, climate control, and
architecture based upon intelligent the external environment assume congru-
passive energy design?25 ent and interactive roles.26

Davies and Rogers proposed a new for- Glass is thus conceived not as a single
mulation of the glass wall, which they called distinct element but as one component in a
a polyvalent wall, that would dynamically system of enclosure. In such a system, the
respond to changing environmental condi- goal is for the flow of energy to be controlled
tions. New technologies, they believed, in both directions (inward and outward)
would forge the way. The authors also pre- to maximize internal comfort and minimize
dicted that the future of architectural glass energy usage. The main components often
New Directions and New Priorities 61

4.25 4.26

4.25 + 4.26 include a double-skin glass envelope with therefore in the tradition of Paul Scheerbart),
LVMH Tower, New variable sun-shading or diffusing elements in the 2002 book Intelligent Skins, Michael
York, New York,
Atelier Christian
and operable ventilators, and can include Wigginton and Jude Harris predict, The
de Portzamparc in power-generating components such as intelligent facade will be one of the principal
association with the photovoltaic cells or wind turbines. In addi- elements in the building of the future. 28
Hillier Group, 1999
tion to the buildings mentioned earlier, Indeed, many architects today continue to
examples of multilayered facades may be work collaboratively with engineers and
found in buildings such as Foster + Partners building scientists toward defining and real-
Business Promotion Centre (1993) in Duisburg, izing the intelligent facade, within the ever-
Germany; the Renzo Piano Building present constraints of available technology,
Workshops Debis Headquarters Building constructability, and cost. In an era increas-
(1997) in Berlin; Murphy/Jahn Architects ingly defined by a sense of impending envi-
Deutsche Post Tower (2003) in Bonn, ronmental crisis, the aesthetic dissolution
Germany; and in several of the case studies of the wall has given way to a rethinking
included in this book. These new facade of priorities, a rebuilding of the wall, and a
systems are often integrated directly with critical new role for glass as a material.
the buildings mechanical systems to create The Genzyme Center (2003) in Cambridge,
a holistic, efficient building response to cli- Massachusetts, is a twelve-story office
mate and energy. It should be recognized, building that boldly addresses some of
however, that even the highly sophisticated these issues in an integrated fashion.
double-skin glass curtain walls of recent Working with a consultant team and an
years often do not measure up, in terms of enlightened developer and tenant, Behnisch
performance, to the alternative of highly Architekten conceived the building as an
insulated opaque walls.27 Nevertheless, opportunity to implement green technologies
in the spirit of architectural futurism (and in the service of not only energy efficiency
Part I: A History of the Curtain Wall as 62
Concept and Construct

4.27 4.28

but also enhanced user experience and eco- Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building 4.27
Prada Flagship Store,
nomic return. The design strategies include Council and was selected as an AIA Top
Tokyo, Japan, Herzog
a double-skin glass curtain wall with auto- Ten Green Project for 2004. Peter Davey, in and de Meuron, 2003
mated sunshade blinds, roof-mounted Architectural Review, called the Genzyme
heliostats that reflect sunlight into a central Center an inspiring shift in the evolution of
4.28
atrium, and photovoltaic arrays for supple- the office building type, more inventive and Christian Dior
mental electricity generation. The interior integrated than almost anything yet built. 30 Omotesando Building,
spaces are lit primarily by daylight entering As evidenced by the Genzyme Center and Tokyo, Japan, SANAA,
2004
through either the perimeter curtain wall other recent high-profile projects, among
or the atrium, and photo-sensors automati- contemporary architects and engineers there
cally dim the light fixtures when daylighting is a renewed interest in the concept of sustain-
is sufficient. The double-skin curtain wall is able architecture. The significant improvement
used mainly on the west and south facades, of energy efficiency has become one of the
with a 4-foot (1.2-meter) interstitial air cavity primary goals in contemporary curtain wall
acting as a buffer between interior and exte- design; however, as William McDonough
rior. In winter solar radiation heats the air points out, Being less bad (or more efficient)
cavity, while in the summer it is naturally is not necessarily being good.31 It is likely that
ventilated. Operable windows are used we will soon see a major shift in emphasis,
throughout the curtain wall, and, on cool from designing buildings that are simply
summer nights, the windows can be auto- more energy efficient to conceiving and
matically opened by a central building man- implementing new technologies that allow
agement system to purge accumulated heat buildings to actually sustainably generate
from the building. Working together, these energy (making a positive difference and
systems are projected to reduce the build- not simply a less negative one), and it can
ings overall energy cost by 41 percent.29 The be expected that the building envelope, as
Genzyme Center was well received within the interface between exterior and interior
the architectural field as an innovative environments, will continue to play an
prototype. The building achieved a LEED essential role in this pursuit.
New Directions and New Priorities 63

Endnotes
1 Bold and Direct, Using Metal in a Strong, Basic 19 Peter Zumthor, Kunsthaus Bregenz (Ostfildern:
Way, Architectural Record, July 1964, 136137. Hatje, 1999), 13.
2 Ibid., 140. 20 Jos Rafael Moneo, The Freedom of the Architect
3 This is according to a Kinney Vacuum Coating (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press,
advertisement in the 1966 Sweets Catalog. 2002), 30.
The advertisement also features an image of 21 Anne C. Sullivan, Customizing the Curtain
the John Deere & Company Headquarters. Wall, Architecture, January 1997, 124.
4 See Patrick Loughran, Falling Glass: Problems 22 Paul Goldberger, The Sky Line: Diors New
and Solutions in Contemporary Architecure House, the New Yorker, January 31, 2000, 88.
(Boston: Birkhuser, 2003), 115116. 23 Mike Davies and Richard Rogers, A Wall for
5 Ibid., 119. All Seasons, RIBA Journal 88, no. 2 (February
6 Ibid., 121. 1981): 5557.
7 William Marlin, Some Reflections on the 24 Ibid., 55.
John Hancock Tower, Architectural Record, 25 Ibid., 55.
June 1977, 123. 26 balos and Herreros, Tower and Office, 40.
8 Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman, 27 See John Straube, A Critical Review of the Use
Architecture: From Prehistory to Post-Modernism of Double Facades for Office Buildings in Cool
(New York: Henry N. Abrams, 1986), 546. Humid Climates, Journal of Building Enclosure
9 Worlds Tallest Silicone-Glazed Curtain Wall, Design (Winter 2007): 4852. Straube finds that
Buildings (December 1984), 36. double facades provide a transparent all-glass
10 See Christopher Olson, Dramatic Geometry aesthetic at significant cost; other, less expensive
Challenges Project Team, Building Design & solutions, such as a reduction in the area of
Construction, September 1987, 102106. glazing, are just as technically valid if not more so.
11 William Curtis, Principle v. Pastiche: 28 Michael Wigginton and Jude Harris, Intelligent
Perspectives on Some Recent Classicisms, Skins (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002), 43.
Architectural Review, August 1984, 14. 29 U.S. Green Building Council,
12 See Susan Doubilet, Not Enough Said, http://leedcasestudies.usgbc.org/energy
Progressive Architecture, February 1984, 7075. cfm?ProjectID=274.
13 John Morris Dixon, Glass Under Glass, 30 Peter Davey, Luminous Paradigm,
Progressive Architecture, April 1983, 8285. Architectural Review, April 2004, 64.
14 Media Kit Announcing the 2008 Pritzker 31 William McDonough and Michael Braungart,
Architecture Prize, http://www.pritzkerprize. Eco-Effectiveness: A New Design Strategy,
com/full_new_site/nouvel/mediareleases/08_ Sustainable Architecture White Papers (New
media_kit.pdf, 3. York: Earth Pledge Foundation, 2000), 3.
15 An extensive and insightful analysis of Nouvels
work in Paris can be found in Fierro, The Glass
State, 95-149.
16 See Loughran, Falling Glass, 88.
17 Media Kit Announcing the 2008 Pritzker
Architecture Prize, 3.
18 This connection is also observed by Fierro
in The Glass State, 117.
Essay Title 64

Part II:
Performance and
Technique
5
Curtain Wall
System Design

6
The Building
Envelope as
Selective Filter
Part II: Performance and Technique 66

Curtain Wall
System Design

5.1
Curtain Wall System Design 67

5.2 5.3

5.1 In contemporary practice, the curtain wall utilizing a hierarchy of frames and panels.
Curtain wall as frame-
is typically conceived as a systemthat is, The main components are typically mul-
work, incorporating
multiple variations in as a coordinated assemblage of components lions, infill panels, and anchors. The vertical
material and form designed to perform in a specified way. The and horizontal mullionsusually fabricated
relative success or failure of a curtain wall, out of extruded aluminum, due to its rela-
5.2
Glass supported by
in terms of both aesthetics and technical per- tively high strength-to-weight ratioform
aluminum mullions, with formance, may often be traced to the selection the structural frame of the curtain wall and
external glazing cap and detailing of its components. Following are analogous to the buildings structural
running horizontally and
the first large-scale experiments with metal frame of columns and beams. Although
structural silicone seal-
ant running vertically frames in the 1950s, a curtain wall industry variations are common, the primary mul-
emerged that, through continual research lions typically span vertically from one floor
5.3 and development, has helped advance the to the next, with intermediate horizontal
Glass supported by
countersunk stainless-
technology and codify its materials and mullions spanning between the verticals.
steel point fittings methodologies.1 This has, in turn, led to the In other words, the mullions form the frame-
increasing sophistication and variety in cur- work in which the infill panelsglass, metal,
tain wall systems that characterizes the stone, or other materialsare set. The
current field. Today, the successful design proper detailing of the joint between the
of a curtain wall system requires extensive infill material and the mullion is essential.
knowledge of materials and appropriate [5.2 + 5.3] Glass is most often held in its
detailing; an accurate assessment of the frame with continuous rubber gaskets or
buildings anticipated environmental condi- silicone seals, or alternatively by point fit-
tions (both interior and exterior); a compre- tings drilled into the glass. Metal and stone
hensive understanding of the required panels may require secondary anchor clips
performance; and a clear strategy for the or other means of attachment to support
relationship of the curtain wall to the build- the weight of the panel, while also relying
ing structure. Given the complexity of most on gaskets or seals to create a watertight
contemporary systems, architects often joint. Infill panels may be classified as either
approach the design process with a strategy vision or spandrel panels, depending on
of collaboration, consulting closely with a the level of transparency and the desire for
team of experts that may include facade views through the curtain wall. While vision
specialists, engineers, and, in some cases, panels obviously rely on glass, spandrel
curtain wall fabricators and contractors. panels may be glass, metal, stone, terra-cotta,
In general terms, the curtain wall is or nearly any other opaque material, usually
essentially a framework that can incorpo- backed with an air cavity, a sealed back pan,
rate multiple variations in materials, form, and insulation. The network of assembled
and function. [5.1] Despite the great variety frames and infill panels is connected to the
of expression, most curtain walls are based primary building structure by an anchor
on fundamental principles of design, system. The typical curtain wall anchor,
Part II: Performance and Technique 68

5.4 5.5

consisting of metal angles or channels bolted fabrication and installation. Although 5.4
Stick-system curtain wall,
to each vertical mullion and to the edge of hybrid combinations are possible, most cur-
components installed
the floor slab, transfers wind loads and dead tain walls fall into one of two main catego- piece by piece on site
loads from the wall system to the buildings ries: the stick system or the unit system.
structural frame. The anchor must also In a stick-system curtain wall, the indi- 5.5
Stick-system curtain wall
accommodate the anticipated tolerances vidual components are assembled piece by
and movement of the structure to which it piece (or stick by stick) on the construction
is attached, allowing adjustment in three site. [5.4] First, the primary mullions are
dimensions (x, y, and z axes). anchored to the building structure, followed
Based on the extent to which the system by the installation of any intermediate mul-
design is unique, a curtain wall may be classi- lions spanning between primary members,
fied as either standard or custom. Numerous and finally the infill panels are installed, along
manufacturers offer a wide variety of stan- with other secondary components, such
dard off-the-shelf curtain wall systems, as shading devices or ornamental fins. Most
the components of which may be selected stick systems are standard, off-the-shelf
from a catalog, with predetermined and pre- products and therefore have relatively low
tested details.2 Such systems are generally material cost. Another advantage of the stick
less expensive and may offer some means of system is the low expense of shipping and
limited customization through an optional kit- handling due to the ability to efficiently
of-parts approach (with different glass types, package and transport the separate compo-
mullion profiles, etc.). Standard systems nents. The main disadvantages of the stick
are usually selected for smaller-scale or system derive from the method of assembly
smaller-budget projects, or for curtain walls in the field, which generally involves a slower
without unique performance or aesthetic pace, higher labor costs, and a greater poten-
requirements. Custom systems, on the other tial for problems concerning the quality and
5.6
hand, are individually designed and built, usu- precision of the work compared to factory Unit-system curtain wall,
ally for a single building (or a group of related prefabrication. Stick systems are usually with units prefabricated
buildings) with a more generous budget and limited to low- or mid-rise applications. [5.5] in shop, transported to
site, and anchored to
more elaborate goals for technical perfor- A unit system (or unitized) curtain wall
building structure
mance or aesthetic expression. Custom sys- consists of prefabricated modules that are
tems generally require extensive testing and assembled under controlled factory condi- 5.7
quality control throughout the design and tions and then shipped to the construction Installation sequence
for a unit-system
construction process, while standard systems, site and connected to preinstalled anchors curtain wall
which have been previously tested and docu- on the building structure. [5.6] Although
mented by the manufacturer, require less. many variations are possible, a typical cur- 5.8
Installation of unit-
In addition to the custom and standard tain wall unit is between 4 and 10 feet (1.2
system curtain wall
distinctions, curtain wall systems are further and 3 meters) wide by one to two stories at Trump Tower, in
classified according to their methods of tall, anchored at each floor slab or beam. Chicago, Illinois
Curtain Wall System Design 69

5.6

Because each curtain wall unit arrives fully

glazed on site, with all framing and infill
panels complete, field labor is minimized.
The advantages of the unit system therefore
include greater quality control during fabri-
cation and quicker on-site installation, as
well as a greater ability to accommodate
building movement caused by deflection
5.7
or wind loads. The disadvantages of the unit
system include higher shipping costs and
the necessity for sequential installation.
(Because of the way that one unit interlocks
with the next, the units must be installed in
a particular sequence; whereas stick systems
permit more freedom.) Unit systems are
typically selected for high-rise and high-
volume curtain walls and, in some cases, for
smaller buildings with generous budgets.
[5.7 + 5.8]
The differences in assembly methods
between these two systems become evident
in the details. Typical mullion plans for a
stick-system and a unit-system curtain wall
reveal key detailing strategies. Both mullions
described here consist of extruded-aluminum
sections that span vertically from one floor
to the next, spaced five feet (1.5 meters) on
center, with an infill of double-pane insulat-
ing glass. As noted previously, aluminum
has a high strength-to-weight ratio (desirable
when trying to create a lightweight wall);
it also accepts a wide variety of finishes
such as painting and anodizing and is well
suited for the process of extrusion, in which
heated aluminum is forced through a series
of dies to create a specified shape. The stick-
system mullion [5.9] is extruded in a rectan-
5.8 gular box shape with recessed channels
Part II: Performance and Technique 70

5.9 5.10

that accept continuous gaskets along the degree of precision and quality control is 5.9
Stick-system curtain wall
front edge. After this mullion has been required in the application of the silicone mullion, typical plan
anchored to the floor slab and horizontal sealant, and therefore the use of four-sided detail
mullions have been installed, the glass panel structural glazing is limited to unit systems
5.10
is set in place and held against the mullion that are prefabricated in controlled factory
Unit-system curtain wall
by an extruded-aluminum pressure plate conditions and is not advisable for field- mullion, typical plan
that is intermittently screwed into the mul- assembled stick systems. Unit systems may detail
lion, exerting pressure through gaskets and also utilize the more traditional, captured
mechanically fixing the glass to the frame. glazing method with a pressure plate and
The pressure plate is often separated from exterior cap. Extruded aluminum is the fram-
the mullion itself by a plastic or rubber ing material of choice for most curtain walls,
thermal break, intended to limit heat loss. but multiple variations are possible. [5.11]
On the exterior, the pressure plate can be Although curtain walls can incorporate
covered by a cap (also made of aluminum), a wide array of infill materials, glass is by far
which snaps onto the plate, concealing the the most common. The specification and detail-
fasteners and forming the exterior finished ing of glass in curtain walls has become quite
surface of the mullion. Whereas the stick- complex in recent years, as the industry,
system mullion is a single, unified member, responding to a broad range of technical and
the unit-system mullion is composed of aesthetic demands, has begun to offer an
two adjacent unit frames that interlock to ever-expanding menu of products and fabri-
form the vertical member. [5.10] Known as cation options. An important distinction can
a dynamic (or split) mullion, this two-part be made between primary production and
extruded-aluminum mullion allows some secondary fabrication of architectural glass.
relative movement between adjacent units The production of glass refers to the primary
(for thermal expansion and contraction) process of making large sheets of glass,
and gives the system greater flexibility in which are then fabricatedvia secondary
general. Gaskets are used to provide a seal at processesinto various types. For instance,
joints where two unit frames come together. the vast majority of architectural glass today
The detail shown here incorporates four-sided is produced by the float process, a fully
structural silicone glazing, a method in mechanized procedure in which the raw
which the glass is essentially glued onto materials of glass (silica sand, soda ash, lime,
its frame using high-strength silicone in lieu and other ingredients) are melted at a tem-
of an exterior pressure plate and cap. In perature of about 3,000F and then floated
addition to the aesthetic effect of a continu- onto a bath of molten tin, forming a continu-
ous, flush glass surface, this method limits ous ribbon that is eventually cooled and cut
the potential for heat loss through the metal into large sheets of flat glass.3 By varying the
frame by minimizing the amount of metal mineral composition of the raw materials,
exposed to the exterior. Obviously, a high float glass can be produced in a range of
Curtain Wall System Design 71

5.11

5.12 5.13

5.11 integral color tintsfrom regular clear Laminated glass, therefore, is often used
Possible variations in
glass (which has a slightly greenish tint) in museums, galleries, and libraries, even
mullion material, from
left: steel T, steel pipe, to shades of bronze, gray, blue, and green. when conditions do not require safety glass.
aluminum, and wood In low-iron (or water white) glass, the For custom aesthetic applications, interlay-
greenish tint of regular clear glass is elimi- ers can be printed with photographic images,
5.12
Glass-fabrication
nated by reducing the iron content in the patterns, colors, or text. The laminating pro-
options, from left: batch of raw materials. In addition to various cess can also be used to encase photovoltaic
monolithic glass, tints, the float process produces sheets of cells between two glass panes for electricity
laminated glass,
varying thicknesses. Standard thicknesses generation. [5.13] Like many secondary
insulating glass,
laminated insulating for architectural glass range from an eighth of processes, glass lamination is labor inten-
glass, and triple-pane an inch (three millimeters) to three-quarters sive and adds significant cost.
insulating glass. of an inch (nineteen millimeters). Glass produced by the float process is
5.13
The glass sheets produced by the float also known as annealed glass. Through
Glass laminated with method can then be fabricated into numer- the secondary processes of heat-treating,
photovoltaic cells ous other products through such secondary the strength characteristics of float glass
processes as laminating, heat-treating, coat- may be improved, resulting in either heat-
ing, insulating, ceramic fritting, acid-etching, strengthened (HS) or fully tempered (FT)
sandblasting, bending, or nearly any combi- glass. This process involves heating a piece
nation of the above. [5.12] Laminated glass of glass to a set temperature and then cool-
consists of two or more pieces of glass per- ing it again very quickly under controlled
manently bonded together with an interlayer conditions, creating a compression enve-
of cured liquid resin or plasticized sheet lope around the glass surface and edges,
material (polyvinyl butyral or polycarbon- with an internal tension layer at the center.
ate) fused to the glass through heat and This results in increased glass strength and
pressure. Laminated glass generally quali- load resistance. HS glass has approximately
fies as safety glazing, because if the glass two times the strength of annealed glass of
breaks, the fragments tend to adhere to the the same thickness. FT glass (also known
interlayer (reducing the potential for dan- as toughened glass), which is produced in
gerous fall-out) and the interlayer resists a method similar to that of HS glass but is
the passage of objects or people through the cooled much quicker, has about four times
glass plane. This is why most building codes the strength of annealed glass of the same
require the use of laminated glass in over- thickness. HS and FT glass thus offer means
head glazing applications such as skylights of increasing glass strength without increas-
and glass floors. An added benefit of the ing thickness. When FT glass is broken, it
common interlayer of polyvinyl butyral is breaks into many small fragments with dull
its ability to block a high percentage of the edges (as opposed to the large, sharp pieces
suns ultraviolet (UV) rays, which can cause of annealed and HS glass) and therefore
damage to artwork, fabrics, and paper. usually qualifies as safety glazing. [5.14]
Part II: Performance and Technique 72

5.14

In its original state, float glass, which may

be referred to as monolithic or single-pane
glass, is inherently inefficient in terms of ther-
mal insulation, and except in mild climates
without extreme temperature variations, it
is insufficient for most architectural applica-
tions. Insulating glass units consist of two or
more panes of glass separated by spacers to
create sealed interstitial air cavities, ranging
from a quarter to three-quarters of an inch in
depth, greatly improving thermal performance.
The typical configuration includes an alumi-
num spacer filled with desiccant and sealed
to each pane with a primary vapor seal of
polyisobutylene. A secondary seal of struc-
tural silicone holds the two panes together.
Because the metal spacer is a good conductor
of heat, the edges of an insulating glass unit
are the most vulnerable to unwanted heat loss.
When improved performance is required,
alternative warm edge spacers with better
insulating properties than aluminum, such
as stainless steel and thermoplastic spacers,
may be specified.
Insulating glass units may also incorpo-
rate various glass surface treatments to fur-
ther transform the basic float glass. Reflective
and/or low-emissivity (low-E) coatings can
significantly improve the solar-heat-gain
coefficient and thermal insulating properties
of glass. Ceramic frit comes in assorted colors
and can be silk-screened in custom patterns
(most often, using dots or lines) then baked,
to permanently fuse with the glass surface,
creating different aesthetic effects as well as
increased solar shading. Sandblasting and
acid-etching can be used to create textured,
translucent surfaces that diffuse light and 5.15
Curtain Wall System Design 73

5.14 obscure direct vision through the glass. Endnotes

Typical breakage 1 In the United States, the American Architectural
[5.15] All of these secondary fabrication
pattern of fully Manufacturers Association has published a
tempered glass processes have an effect on the cost and the
number of advisory documents related to curtain
available sizes of glass. The maximum size wall design and construction, including design
5.15 of a particular product is usually limited by guidelines, model specifications, testing proce-
Insulating glass with
custom-patterned
some combination of the manufacturing dures, and performance standards. Other related
ceramic frit silkscreen equipment on which it is fabricated, the standards specifically relevant to curtain wall
(suggesting foliage), weight of the finished product, or restric- design have been developed by the American
Utretcht University National Standards Institute, the American Soci-
tions on transporting the final product.
Library, Utrecht, the ety for Testing and Materials, and the Glass Asso-
Netherlands, Wiel Arets This survey of glass-fabrication options
ciation of North America. Most countries have
Architects, 2004 illustrates that the design of a curtain wall
counterpart organizations that set standards for
system requires a broad knowledge of mate- the design and testing of curtain walls.
rials, component fabrication, and installa- 2 Examples include manufacturers such as Archi-
tion methodologies. In addition, the designer tectural Glazing Technologies, EFCO, Kawneer,
must also consider the performance charac- Oldcastle Glass, Schco, United States Alumi-
teristics of each component during the life num, and Visionwall.
of the building. In each curtain wall system 3 See Bradford McKee, Float Glass, Architect, July
2007, 6875.
described above, the specific configurations
of the mullions and infill panels depend on a
number of technical factors. The required
dimensions of a mullion, for instance, must
be calculated based on the material chosen,
the spacing of the mullions, their overall
span, and wind loads. The minimum glass
thickness is influenced by the dimensions
of the individual pane, the glass type, its
method of edge support, and wind loads.
The minimum width of a bead of structural
silicone sealant is determined by the rated
strength of the silicone, the size of the pane,
and the wind loads. Beyond these primary
structural concerns, the design of a curtain
wall system must also respond to a complex
set of environmental performance param-
eters, which will be discussed more fully
in the next chapter.
Part II: Performance and Technique 74

The Building
Envelope as
Selective Filter
BUILDING ENVELOPE INTERFACE 6.1
The building envelope
as selective filter,
adapted from James
Meso-environment (architectural) Macro-environment (terrestrial)
Marston Fitch, 1948

winter insolation (infrared)

winter air temperature
radiant
winter heating (still air)
convected
winter winds
Thermal
cooled air summer insolation
summer conditions dehumidified air summer air temperature
circulated air (still air)
Atmospheric
summer breeze

winter humidity summer humidity

Aqueous
precipitation

household odors
pleasant
odors
unpleasant
dust and pollution
view out
privacy (view in)
Luminous
daylight
glare
artificial illumination artificial illumination

productive sound
noise Sonic
noise (waste sound)

inhabitants
visitors
intruders Biological
vermin and insects
pollens
microorganisms

nuclear radiation nuclear pollution

The Building Envelope As Selective Filter 75

Because of the continuous fluctuation of exert on interior spaces. Examples of such

all environmental factors across time, the filtering include the control of views into
building wall must be visualized not as a and out of a building, the transmission of
simple barrier but rather as a selective, natural light, the ventilation of interiors, and
permeable membrane with the capacity to the regulation of rainwater. At the most basic
admit, reject and/or filter any of these envi- level of performance, however, a curtain
ronmental factors. All building walls have wall should be structurally sound. The com-
always acted in this fashion, of course. ponents of the curtain wall system must
Modern scientific knowledge and technical be designed and built to resist anticipated
competence merely make possible much loads, such as those induced by wind, seis-
higher, more elegant and precise levels of mic activity, and the potential impact of
performance than previously.1 objects or people against the wall. The most
significant load on a curtain wall is often lat-
James Marston Fitchs depiction of the eral wind load (except in cases where blast
building wall as a selective two-way filter in resistance is required). The anticipated force
American Building, first published in 1948, of wind blowing against or pulling away
remains a useful analogy, particularly given from a curtain wall (the design wind load)
todays growing concerns about energy effi- is dependent on a number of factors: the
ciency and sustainability. Fitch envisioned location and orientation of the proposed
the building envelope as analogous to the building, the size and shape of the building,
skin of the human body, which adaptively the immediate context of other structures
responds to the external environment in an or natural features, the surrounding land-
effort to maintain optimal internal condi- scape, and the measured history of wind
tions. But the capacity of the human body to activity at the site. Sometimes the design
accommodate the range of climatic condi- wind load is specified by local building code;
tions evident in the natural world is of course often, however, it is calculated according to
limited, and we therefore require what Fitch civil engineering principles or determined
termed an ameliorating third element. 2 by testing a physical scale model of the pro-
This third element, which he calls a meso- posed building in a wind tunnel. Wind loads
environment, acts as an interface between on a single building may vary greatly in dif-
the microenvironment of the body and the ferent locations: higher wind loads are often
macroenvironment of the external world. present at the top of a building and at the
[6.1] There are two primary manifestations corners of walls, as opposed to more cen-
of the meso-environment: clothing and tralized areas. Due to orientation, one face
buildings. As Fitch explains, each can be tai- or side of a building may see significantly
lored to meet the requirements of specific higher or lower wind loads than other faces.
people in particular situations (and, by the Because the materials of the curtain wall
way, each may be subject to the whims of tend to be relatively flexible and not rigid,
fashion). Clothing and buildings simply oper- deflection (not strength) usually governs
ate at different scales: One protects the the resistance to wind. In other words, the
individual only while the other shelters curtain wall will likely reach an unaccept-
social processes as well. 3 The way in which able level of deflection under wind loading
the meso-environment, as the boundary before it will fail structurally. Therefore,
between the micro and macro, modulates most curtain wall specifications limit the
itself in response to changing conditions allowable deflection of the curtain wall mul-
its relative success or failure given specified lions and infill panels to a certain dimension,
parameters and goalsmay be considered based on the span of the member.
its performance, and for contemporary cur- For example, vertical mullions spanning
tain walls, performance is a key concept from one floor to the next are typically
with important consequences for the way limited to a maximum deflection of L/175,
the system is designed and built. where L equals the floor-to-floor height.4
The curtain wall should act as a selective So, for a curtain wall spanning 10 feet
filter, purposefully controlling the flow of (3 meters) vertically, the maximum allow-
heat, light, air, water, and sound, as well as able deflection of the mullion would be 10
the subsequent impact that these elements feet/175 = 0.0571 feet, or roughly 5/8 inch.
Part II: Performance and Technique 76

COMPARISON OF INSULATING GLASS PERFORMANCE

All examples assume 1/4"thick inner and outer glass panes with 1/2" air space

INSULATING VISIBLE LIGHT VISIBLE LIGHT WINTER

maximum GLASS TYPE TRANSMITTANCE REFLECTANCE SHGC U-VALUE
deflection Clear glass, uncoated 79% 14% 0.70 0.47
wind pressure

Gray glass, uncoated 41% 7% 0.48 0.47

Clear glass with reflective coating 12% 33% 0.18 0.40
10

Clear glass with low-e coating 70% 11% 0.38 0.29

Gray glass with low-e coating 35% 6% 0.24 0.29
Clear glass with low-e coating
and ceramic frit pattern (50%) 44% 22% 0.26 0.29

Clear glass, uncoated, + argon fill 0.45

Clear glass, low-e + argon fill 0.25
Triple glazing, clear glass, uncoated 0.31
Triple glazing, clear glass low-e
+ argon fill 0.14

6.2 6.3

[6.2] The curtain wall mullion in this case performance, neutral low-E coating can 6.2
Curtain wall deflection
must be designed to resist the design wind attain a U-value as low as 0.29, as compared diagram
load while deflecting less than five-eighths to 0.47 for uncoated insulating glass or 1.02
of an inch, a task that has implications for for uncoated monolithic (single-pane) glass.5 6.3
the material choice, the dimensions of the Comparison of insulat-
That same low-E unit can achieve a solar-
ing glass performance
mullion itself, and the spacing of mullions heat-gain coefficient of 0.38, as compared to
on the facade. Higher wind loads may mean 0.70 for an uncoated unit, and it can be fur-
that mullions should be reinforced with ther improved through the use of tinted glass
steel or spaced closer together, or that a substrates.6 [6.3] Of course, most curtain
deeper mullion section is required. walls are not entirely glass, and, in fact, the
As glass tends to dominate the contem- mullions that frame and support the glass are
porary curtain wall, the overall thermal per- a potentially onerous source of unwanted heat
formance of the wall often comes down to transmission. The thermal breaka means
the selection and detailing of the glass panel, of physically separating metal components
which can be an inherently poor thermal that are exposed to the exterior from those
insulator. The various glass treatments dis- exposed to the interioris in certain climates
cussed in the previous chapter can greatly an essential detail in a curtain wall mullion. In
affect the way that glass conducts heat and the design phase, architects may use thermal
transmits or rejects solar energy. Reflective simulation software to test various configura-
and low-E coatings, consisting of microscopi- tions of glass and mullions based on expected
cally thin layers of metals deposited on the environmental conditions. [6.4]
surface, significantly improve the shading In addition to specifying appropriate
coefficient and thermal insulating properties glass products and mullion configurations,
of glass. Obviously, the reflective coatings designers continue to experiment with mul-
popular in the 1970s acted basically as mir- tilayered glass skins as a means of creating
rors, blocking unwanted solar energy from a more sophisticated selective filter. The
entering the building but also preventing the main concept in this type of system is the
transmission of much visible light, thus elim- creation of an air plenum, between two lay-
inating the transparency so long associated ers of glass, that acts as a moderating buffer
with glass. But a newer generation of special- between interior and exterior environmen-
ized metallic coatings, with improved perfor- tal conditions. The two layers may be posi-
mance, a more neutral appearance, and higher tioned on either side of a single mullion,
visible light transmittance, became available separated by several inches, or they may
in the 1980s and 1990s. These coatings selec- exist as two separately framed curtain walls,
tively filter (transmit or reflect) the various spaced several feet apart. In periods when
wavelengths of sunlight to fine-tune the interior heating is required, the air cavity
facades performance. Currently, a double- remains sealed and the air is heated natu-
pane clear insulating glass unit with a high- rally by solar gain. This warmed air can then
The Building Envelope As Selective Filter 77

6.4

6.4 be used either as a passive buffer, which observed by the architect, owner, and con-
Thermal modeling of
reduces the need for mechanical heating, tractor. The goal is to confirm the perfor-
curtain wall mullion, to
determine degree of or as preheated intake air for the HVAC mance of the curtain wall with respect to a
heat loss and suscepti- system. During cooling periods, the air cav- specific set of criteria. The full-scale mock-up,
bility to condensation ity can be ventilated to provide a continuous usually about two stories in height and one
flow of fresh air that can be routed into the or two structural bays in width, is built with
interiors. The area between the layers of the same materials and methods that will be
glass creates a convenient and protected used in the final construction. It is subjected
location for sunshades, which can be adjusted to a series of tests, which typically include
seasonally or daily to provide the optimal resistance to air and water leakage, structural
balance of views and shading, blocking performance under wind load, and conden-
unwanted solar energy before it strikes the sation resistance. A standard sequence may
inner glass wall and making large expanses include the following:
of glass more feasible from an energy stand-
point. The multilayer approach also offers 1. Static Air Infiltration (ASTM E283): the
the benefit of improved sound control. rate of air leakage through the curtain wall
While such active systems represent a 2. Static Water Penetration (ASTM E331):
major advantage over passive, single-skin the amount of water leakage through the
precedents in meeting demands for both curtain wall
occupant comfort and energy efficiency, 3. Dynamic Water Penetration (AAMA 501):
recent research suggests that the double water leakage under high wind conditions
skin is not technically superior to the less 4. Structural Performance (ASTM E330):
expensive alternative of reducing the deflection using air-pressure differential to
amount of glass in the wall while increasing simulate wind load
the area of opaque superinsulated wall.7 5. Thermal Cycling (AAMA 501): simulates
As architects and engineers continue to the effects of temperature variation
experiment with the active double wall and 6. Condensation Resistance (AAMA 1503):
exploit its potential coordination and integra- assesses the likelihood of condensation
tion with a buildings HVAC systems, it can occurring within or on the curtain wall
be expected that further innovation will 7. Lateral and Interstory Movement
continue to yield better performance. (AAMA 501): the mock-up frame is moved
Regardless of the type of system chosen, laterally to simulate differential movement
it is common to subject a custom curtain wall of the building structure under wind or
to a series of physical mock-up tests to mea- seismic loads [6.5]
sure its performance under simulated envi-
ronmental conditions prior to final installation The mock-ups response to each test is
on site. Such trials typically take place at a measured precisely and compared to the
specialized independent laboratory and are specified criteria. If the model performs as
Part II: Performance and Technique 78

6.5
Airplane engine and
propeller used to
simulate high winds
during a curtain wall
mock-up test

6.5

expected, it passes; otherwise, remediation such as the adhesion of structural silicone,

measures are required, and the system must may be conducted in the factory during this
be modified so that it can pass a retest. The period. Once on-site installation has begun,
process, though costly in terms of money and the curtain wall is subjected regularly to
time, is a valuable tool, particularly for custom field testingstandardized procedures that
systems. Potential problems in performance measure the amount of water and air infil-
and aesthetics can be identified well in advance tration through the wall, as compared to
of on-site installation, giving the design team specified allowable amounts. Any problems
and the fabricator an opportunity to resolve found during such tests must be solved,
ifficulties and to more fully ensure a successful with the remediation measures then applied
installation phase and final product. similarly to all other areas of the wall.
The performance of a curtain wall is influ- There is an increasing expectation that
enced equally by the quality of its design and architecture should respond intelligently to
construction. An inadequately designed cur- local climatic conditions, conserving rather
tain wall will likely fail, even if it is fabricated than wasting resources, and that it should
and installed well; a well-designed curtain achieve, as Fitch described, much higher,
wall may fail if it is fabricated and installed more elegant and precise levels of perfor-
poorly. For these reasons, the curtain wall mance. As the primary interface between the
design process begins with extensive com- exterior macroenvironment and the interior
ponent research, engineering, detailing, and meso-environment, the building envelope has
preliminary testing, and continues onto the an essential role to play in this pursuit. The
construction site with a battery of field tests achievement of a high-performance curtain
and inspections to ensure proper performance wall, moving beyond the status quo, relies on
of the wall, once it is installed. During pre- the expertise of the design team, the clear
fabrication of a unit system, for instance, it delineation of performance parameters and
is common for the design team to periodi- criteria, an intense process of testing and
cally visit the factory to inspect progress on inspection, and a spirit of experimentation
the curtain wall. Testing the components, and technological innovation.
The Building Envelope As Selective Filter 79

Endnotes
1 James Marston Fitch, American Building:
The Environmental Forces That Shape It
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972), 9. First
published in 1948.
2 Ibid., 8.
3 Ibid., 9.
4 L/175 is an industry standard, although some
architects prefer a more stringent limitation
of L/240. Also, the maximum deflection of a cur-
tain wall mullion is often limited to L/175 or
3/4 inch (1.9 centimeters), whichever is less, as
3/4 inch is considered the highest acceptable
deflection of a typical mullion, regardless of load.
5 The U-value is a measure of heat gain or loss
through glass due to differences between indoor
and outdoor temperatures; it measures the
insulating value of glass. The lower the U-value,
the better the insulating performance. The
U-value unit is BTU/(hr ft 2 F) or in metric
W/(m2 K).
6 The solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of glass
measures the portion of directly transmitted
and absorbed solar energy that enters into the
buildings interior. A higher SHGC indicates
more heat gain.
7 See John Straube, A Critical Review of the Use
of Double Facades for Office Buildings in Cool
Humid Climates, Journal of Building Enclosure
Design (Winter 2007): 4852.
Part III:
Case Studies
Introduction

The following case studies present twenty-four recently constructed buildings with
innovative curtain walls. The selected projects are geographically diverse and range in
scale from two to fifty-two stories tall. They encompass a broad range of building types:
museums, libraries, office buildings, educational and research centers, residential tow-
ers, government buildings, and religious institutions.
Although the curtain wall design of each building is unique, there are broad themes
that many of the projects share. Several curtain walls address performance issues
through multiple layering, with double-skin walls, external shading devices, and opera-
ble components. Some projects illustrate the challenges of designing a curtain wall for a
geometrically complex building form. In several projects, there is a clear desire to break
away from the traditional vertical plane by introducing angled facades and tilted glass.
Some buildings exploit the potential of unusual curtain wall materials, such as wood and
translucent stone, while others employ standard materials in novel ways: the glass, for
instance, is tinted, silkscreened with custom patterns, or formed into channel shapes.
Kenneth Frampton writes:

The full tectonic potential of any building stems from its capacity to articulate both the
poetic and the cognitive aspects of its substance.Thus the tectonic stands in opposi-
tion to the current tendency to deprecate detailing in favor of the overall image.1

The buildings chosen for this study embody this duality of poetic design and tech-
nical, detail-oriented rigor. Each of these buildings engages in image-making, clearly
seeking to create a distinctive visual impact, but they equally pursue experiential and
performance-driven objectives, illustrating the depth of technical knowledge of mate-
rials and fabrication methodologies required for successful innovation in curtain wall
design and construction. In addition to photographs and general building information,
the tectonic character of each curtain wall is represented on the following pages with a
detailed elevation-plan-section composite drawing that delineates system components,
materials, key dimensions, and the relationship between wall and building structure.

1 Kenneth Frampton, Studies in Tectonic Culture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1995), 26.
Case Study Title 84
The New 42ndd Street
Studios/ p.86

Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall / p.94

One Omotesando / p.100

William J. Clinton
Presidential Center / p.106

Green-Wood Mausoleum / p.112

LVMH Osaka / p.118

Torre Agbar / p.140

Seattle Public Library / p.126

Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular

and Bimolecular Research / p.132
Skirkanich Hall / p.162

Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision / p.154

Torre Cube / p.148
 Case Study Title 85

ATLAS Building / p.184

Biomedical Science Research Building / p.176

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art / p.198

Trutec Building / p.168

Spertus Institute of
Jewish Studies / p.214

Blue Tower / p.190

United States
Federal Building / p.222

Yale Sculpture Building / p.230

The New York Times

Building / p.206

100 Eleventh Avenue / p.244

Cathedral of Christ the Light / p.236

166 Perry Street / p.250

Case Study Title 86
Case Study Title 87

The New 42nd Curtain Wall

Stick system with extruded-aluminum
mullions and low-E coated insulating glass

Street Studios
units; on the south facade, an external layer
of perforated stainless-steel louver blades
set within an armature of painted steel

New York, NY
Program
A total of 84,000 square feet
(approximately 7,804 square meters)
of space, including fourteen rehearsal

United States
studios for music, dance, and theater;
office space for performing-arts groups;
a 199-seat experimental theater; and
ground-floor retail

Architect
Platt Byard Dovell White

Client
New 42nd Street, Inc.

Curtain Wall Consultant

Heitmann and Associates

Structural Engineer
Anastos Engineering Associates

MEP Engineer
Goldman Copeland Associates

Exterior Lighting Designer

Vortex Lighting (Anne Militello)

Completion Date
2000
Part III: Case Studies 88

Located in New York Citys Times Square and rehearsal spaces are flooded with exterior lighting and signage to maintain
Theater District, this ten-story tower natural light, diffused through an outer the character of the district. In response,
serves as the headquarters for the non- layer of perforated stainless-steel louvers Platt Byard Dovell Whiteworking with
profit arts group New 42nd Street. It was that start about 6 feet (1.8 meters) above lighting designer Anne Militello of Vortex
built as part of a major redevelopment each floor and extend upward to the next Lightingtransformed the south facade
plan to transform the block through the level. A grid of painted steel framing into a building-scale luminaire, or complete
revitalization of existing theaters and an members support the louvers, which are lighting unit. The stainless-steel louvers act
infusion of new commercial and arts-related held approximately 3 feet (0.9 meters) in as a canvas onto which a nightly computer-
initiatives. The public face of the building front of the glass wall on horizontal steel controlled light show is projected, turning
is the south facade, where the curtain wall outriggers anchored to each floor slab. the facade into a shimmering, abstract
is conceived as a multilayered and multi- The curtain wall also incorporates adjust- collage of color. This use of integrated
functional system of enclosure. Cantile- able translucent shades for glare control, architectural illumination offered an alter-
vered floor slabs support a continuous operable windows for natural ventilation, native to the advertising-dominated
glass-and-aluminum curtain wall, provid- and an exterior maintenance catwalk. theme-park feel that pervades the district.
ing a floor-to-ceiling glass envelope at The redevelopment guidelines for 42nd
each level. By day, the buildings offices Street required a significant amount of

1 2

1
Typical floor plan

2
South elevation
The New 42nd Street Studios 89

3
Detail of nighttime
illumination

4
Exterior view, from
southeast

4
Part III: Case Studies 90

5
Partial elevation

5' 6" (1.52 m)

6
Plan
The New 42nd Street Studios 91

H
A
17' 4" (5.28 m)

C D I

7
Section A Perforated ground F Out-swinging
stainless-steel blades operable window

B Painted steel G Extruded-aluminum

vertical strut mullion

C Steel-grate mainte- H Adjustable

nance catwalk on translucent shade
steel outrigger
I Raised dance floor
D Exterior light fixtures on concrete slab

E Insulating glass with J Cantilevered steel

low-E coating beam
Part III: Case Studies 92

8
The New 42nd Street Studios 93

10

8
Multilayered facade
components

9
View of upper floors,
from southwest

10
Detail of southeast
corner

11
Interior view of curtain
wall in dance studio

11
Case Study Title 94
Case Study Title 95

Melvin J. and Curtain wall

Custom active double-skin unit system
with prefabricated extruded-aluminum

Claire Levine Hall

unit frames, external double-pane
insulating glass, and internal single-
pane glass

Philadelphia, PA
Program
Offices, laboratories, meeting spaces,
and an auditorium for the Department
of Computer and Information Science

United States
at the University of Pennsylvania

Architect
KieranTimberlake Associates

Client
University of Pennsylvania School of
Engineering and Applied Science

Structural Engineer
CVM Structural Engineers

Civil Engineer
Barton and Martin Engineers

MEP Engineer
Vanderweil Engineers

Energy Consultant
Arup

Completion Date
2001
Part III: Case Studies 96

Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall is one of layers of glass: an outer double-pane insu-
the first large-scale applications of an active lating unit and a single inner pane. The two
double-wall concept in the United States. layers are separated by a 6-inch (15-
A desire for transparency and openness centimeter) plenum, through which air
a counterpoint to the masonry aesthetic circulates; it is preheated by the sun (in win-
of the surrounding campusled to the ter) before being transferred to the HVAC
design of an all-glass curtain wall. To avoid system. The air cavity houses electronically
the use of dark-tinted or reflective glass and controlled blinds to reduce heat gain in
large areas of spandrel, as would normally summer. The fully prefabricated unit system
be required by the energy code, Kieran- was installed on site in seven weeks. Credit
Timberlake researched the potential of must also go to the client, the University
using an active double-skin to maintain of Pennsylvania, for recognizing the benefits
transparency and mitigate thermal issues of an unusually high-performance, energy-
1
inherent in conventional single-skin efficient building envelope and for under- View through
curtain walls. standing that the higher construction curtain wall,
The final design called for a custom unit cost of such a system would be balanced from interior

system incorporating various configurations by lower energy use and operating costs 2
of extruded-aluminum frames with two over the life of the building. View of interior

1 2
Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall 97

3
Installation of curtain
wall units

4
View of west elevation

5
Catalog of custom
curtain wall unit types

3 4

A1A Qty.
A1A QTY.8 8 A1A Qty.
A1A QTY.1 1 A2 Qty.
A2 QTY.1010 A2A Qty.
A2A QTY.1 1 A3 Qty.
A3 QTY.99 A3A Qty.
A3A QTY.1 1
A1A QTY. 8 A1A QTY. 1 A2 QTY. 10 A2A QTY. 1 A3 QTY. 9 A3A QTY. 1
A1A QTY. 8 A1A QTY. 1 A2 QTY. 10 A2A QTY. 1 A3 QTY. 9 A3A QTY. 1

A4 QTY. 8 A5 QTY. 7 B1 QTY. 9 B2 QTY. 19 B4 QTY. 7 B5 QTY. 7

A4 QTY.8 8
Qty. A5 Qty.
A5 QTY.77 B1 Qty.
B1 QTY.99 B2 Qty.
B2 QTY.19 19 B4 Qty.
B4 QTY.77 B5 Qty.
B5 QTY.77
A4 QTY. 8 A5 QTY. 7 B1 QTY. 9 B2 QTY. 19 B4 QTY. 7 B5 QTY. 7

B6 QTY. 11 B6A QTY. 4 B6B QTY. 3 B7 QTY. 3 B8 QTY. 3 B9 QTY. 3

B6 QTY. 11 B6A QTY. 4 B6B QTY. 3 B7 QTY. 3 B8 QTY. 3 B9 QTY. 3
B6 Qty.
B6 QTY.11 11 B6A Qty.
B6A QTY.4 4 B6B Qty.
B6B QTY.3 3 B7 Qty.
B7 QTY.33 B8 Qty.
B8 QTY.3 3 B9 Qty.
B9 QTY.33
Part III: Case Studies 98

6
Partial elevation

7' (2.13 m) 4' 4" (1.32 m)

7
Plan
Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall 99

H
E

A B
14' (4.27 m)

8 A Outer skin: clear insu- E Exhaust air duct (from

Section lating glass with low-E curtain wall cavity)
coating
F Extruded-aluminum
B Inner skin: monolithic unit frame
glass (sandblasted in
G Finished floor on rein-
some areas)
forced concrete slab
C Adjustable interior
H Fire-safe insulation
cavity blind (electronic)
at slab edge
D Adjustable room shade
I Suspended ceiling
(manual)
Case Study Title 100
Case Study Title 101

One Curtain Wall

Custom stick system incorporating
monolithic glass and external vertical

Omotesando
wood fins

Program
A total of 83,000 square feet (4,459

Tokyo, Japan
square meters) of office and retail
space for a fashion company

Architect
Kengo Kuma and Associates

Client
LVMH

Structural Engineer
Oak Structural Design Office

Mechanical Engineer
P. T. Morimura and Associates

Completion Date
2003
Part III: Case Studies 102

This seven-story building stands at the with protruding tapered fins of laminated
entrance to Omotesando Avenue. Lined wood (Japanese Larch) attached to each
on both sides with tall Zelkova trees, the vertical mullion. These fins, measuring
avenue leads to the citys oldest Shinto approximately 18 inches (0.5 meters) deep,
shrine, the Meiji Shrine. The architect act to stiffen the vertical mullions and lend
sought to design a building that would an unusual texture and color to the curtain
reflect the natural warmth of surrounding wall. Additionally, the fins act as solar-shad-
greenery and reference Japans long ing devices, reducing the amount of direct
tradition of building with wood. sunlight that reaches the floor-to-ceiling
The curtain wall is constructed out of glass panels. Because of fire-safety con-
extruded-aluminum mullions that span ver- cerns, Tokyos building code prohibits the
tically from floor to floor and support the use of wood on exterior walls in dense
monolithic tempered glass. Horizontal urban areas; however, the fins were permit-
joints between glass panels are minimized ted due to the unusual provision of water
through the use of structural silicone glaz- sprinkler heads spaced at regular intervals
ing, while the vertical joints are emphasized along the exterior surface of the curtain wall.

1
View from
Omotesando
Avenue

2
View from interior

3
Detail of wood
fin attachment at
curtain wall

4
Exterior view

1
One Omotesando 103

4
Part III: Case Studies 104

5
Partial elevation

2' (0.60 m)

6
Plan
One Omotesando 105

C F

D
E

G
13' 9" (4.2 m)

7 A Laminated wood fin E Adjustable shade

Section
B Monolithic tempered F Raised floor on
glass concrete slab

C Extruded-aluminum G Suspended ceiling

mullion

D Glass soffit
Case Study Title 106
Case Study Title 107

William J. Clinton Curtain Wall

The primary, west-facing curtain wall:
a custom double-layered stick system with

Presidential
an inner curtain wall of low-iron insulating
glass supported by steel-tube framing,
with an outer skin of point-supported
laminated glass with a printed interlayer

Center Program
A presidential library with permanent and
temporary exhibition spaces, an education

Little Rock, AK
and media center, an event space, a cafe,
and a rooftop residential apartment

Architect

United States Polshek Partnership Architects

Client
William J. Clinton Presidential Center

Associate Architects
Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter
Architects; Witsell Evans Rasco Architects;
Woods Caradine Architects

Curtain Wall Consultant

R. A. Heintges and Associates

Structural Engineer
Leslie E. Robertson Associates

MEP Engineers
Flack and Kurtz; Cromwell Architects
Engineers

LEED Consultants
Steven Winter Associates; Rocky Mountain
Institute

Completion Date
2004
Part III: Case Studies 108

The William J. Clinton Presidential Center The clients objectives included an open glass forms the true weather envelope of the
is located in a public park along the south and accessible museum and a commitment building, while an outer rainscreen of lami-
bank of the Arkansas River and within to environmental responsibility; the building nated glass provides solar protection and
walking distance of downtown. The bulk earned a LEED Silver certification. The main sound insulation. The glass of the inner wall is
of the 165,000-square-foot (15,329-square- facade is the west elevation, which faces framed by extruded-aluminum glazing adapt-
meter) building is elevated in a linear toward an entry plaza, with downtown Little ers mounted to horizontal steel tubes sus-
form, cantilevered toward the river and Rock visible in the distance. The curtain wall pended, by steel tension cables, from the roof.
supported by massive exposed-steel consists primarily of transparent glass, which The glass of the outer wall is laminated with
trusses, inspired by an adjacent century- allows for expansive views and natural light- an interlayer of custom-printed, thin black-
old railroad bridge. Unusual among presi- ing. At night, activities within the center are and-white lines that allow views through while
dential libraries, the design embraces on display through the glass walls. deflecting a portion of the solar energy strik-
modern aesthetics and technology and The double-height curtain wall at the ing the surface. Countersunk stainless-steel
offers a contemporary approach to the exhibition wing is composed of two walls of point fittings (or spiders) support the glass
articulation of architecture, which is per- glass on either side of a porchlike space panels at each corner and are, in turn, sup-
haps most apparent in the design of measuring 10 feet (3 meters) deep. The inner ported by horizontal steel tubes that are sus-
the exterior envelope. wall of low-iron, low-E coated insulating pended from above, similar to the inner wall.

1
Floor plan,
level four

2
East-west section,
looking south

2
William J. Clinton Presidential Center 109

3 4

3
South elevation

4
View from south

5
Space between
outer and inner
glass walls, looking
north toward
the river

5
Part III: Case Studies 110

6
Partial elevation

10' (3.05 m)

7
Plan
William J. Clinton Presidential Center 111

B
C

D
J

D
E F

G
5' 4" (1.63 m)

8
Section A Laminated low-iron F Laminated low-iron
tempered glass insulating glass with
low-E coating
B Countersunk stainless-
steel bolt and spider G Steel and aluminum
fitting mullion with stainless-
steel cladding
C Painted steel tube
H Steel truss
D Stainless-steel threaded
dead-load rod I Tempered glass
railing
E Steel column
J Adjustable shades
Case Study Title 112
Case Study Title 113

Green-Wood Curtain Wall

Custom hybrid system of preglazed units
mounted in a shinglelike configuration

Mausoleum
onto steel mullions

Program
A new mausoleum facility providing

Brooklyn, NY
burial chambers and gathering spaces
within Green-Wood Cemetery

Architect

United States
Platt Byard Dovell White

Client
Green-Wood Cemetery

Structural Engineers
Siracuse Engineers; Leslie E. Robertson
Associates

MEP Engineer
Joseph R. Loring and Associates

Completion Date
2004
Part III: Case Studies 114

Established in 1838, Green-Wood Cemetery the atriums balance the heaviness of the 1
Southeast elevation
was designated as a National Historic burial chambers.
Landmark in 2006. The new five-story mau- The glass curtain wall is composed of 2
soleum provides 2,000 additional burial a custom system of monolithic clear glass Cantilevered
chambers. The design is based on a panels angled, in section, like shingles, monolithic glass

strong yet simple dichotomy of solidity with the lower edge of each panel cantile-
and lightness. The crypts are organized vering several inches beyond the frame.
into three vertical stacks encased in stone- Structural silicone sealant holds the glass
clad walls; these massive volumes are in place and minimizes the external
earthbound, cut into the steep hillside, expression of the supporting framework.
and they are organized around two sky-lit The glass is preglazed onto extruded-
atria containing stairs and seating areas. aluminum frames, which are then anchored
The rear wall of each atrium is formed by to an internal framework of exposed hori-
a four-story interior waterfall, which is zontal and vertical steel mullions suspended
echoed at the front in a cascading glass from each floor slab. The exposed, free-
curtain wall that provides abundant natu- floating edges and precise detailing of
ral light and views of the landscape. the panels contribute to the overall
The fluidity, openness, and airiness of sense of lightness.

1 2
Green-Wood Mausoleum 115

3
Interior view of
curtain wall at
top floor

4
Typical floor plan

4
Part III: Case Studies 116

5
Partial elevation

7' 5" (2.26 m)

6
Plan
Green-Wood Mausoleum 117

B C
D
4' 6" (1.37 m)

7
Section A Structurally glazed D Painted steel column
monolithic tempered
E Painted steel guardrail
glass
F Reinforced-concrete
B Extruded-aluminum
floor slab
unit frame
C Painted steel beam
Case Study Title 118
Case Study Title 119

LVMH Osaka Curtain Wall

Hybrid system with floor-to-floor
translucent panels of laminated

Osaka, Japan
stone and glass preglazed to extruded-
aluminum frames and mounted onto
vertical steel mullions

Program
Ninety-thousand square feet (8,361
square meters) of office and retail space
for a fashion company

Architect
Kengo Kuma and Associates

Client
LVMH Japan Group

Curtain Wall Consultant

Front

Structural Engineer
Ban Design Studio

Mechanical Engineer
P. T. Morimura and Associates

Completion Date
2004
Part III: Case Studies 120

Kengo Kuma and Associates nine-story nature, thanks to fluorescent cove light
LVMH building in Osaka, Japan, presents fixtures integrated into each mullion.
a building envelope of remarkable material The monolithic stone cube transforms into
effect; an intentional blurring of the tradi- a lantern. To provide opportunities for
tional distinction between wall and window, views through the curtain wall, the stone-
and between stone and glass. From day and-glass composite panels alternate, in
to night, the curtain wall continually shifts a ratio of two to one, with laminated glass
conditions, from opacity to transparency units utilizing a polyester interlayer printed
and translucency. with a pattern that resembles the grain of
The curtain wall incorporates 5/ -inch- onyx. While the panels simulate the texture
thick (4 millimeters) onyx slabs laminated and color of the stone, they are primarily
between sheets of clear glass. These slices transparent. Both types of glass panels
of stone are thin enough to transmit dif- extend vertically from floor to floorwith-
fused light. During the day, they appear out spandrelsand are preglazed onto
solid and opaque from the exterior, while minimal frames of extruded aluminum,
allowing natural light to filter through to which are, in turn, mounted onto vertical
the interior; at night, the stone panels glow mullions of built-up steel.
from within, revealing their translucent

1
Section

2
Typical floor plan

2
LVMH 121

3+4
Interior views

4
Part III: Case Studies 122

5
Partial elevation

3' (0.91 m)

6
Plan
LVMH 123

F
C

2 ft. 11 in. (0.89 m)

G
E

H
13' 2" (4 m)

D
A

7
Section A Laminated panel: E Adjustable blinds
glass, translucent
F Raised floor on
stone, glass
concrete slab
B Laminated glass with
G Fireproofed steel
printed interlayer
beam
C Extruded-aluminum
H Suspended ceiling
frame

D Vertical steel mullions

with integral light
fixture
Part III: Case Studies 124

8
Night view

8
LVMH 125

9
Curtain wall parapet

10
View from street

10
Case Study Title 126
Case Study Title 127

Seattle Public Curtain Wall

Custom stick system of steel and
aluminum framing members arranged

Library
in a diamond-grid configuration
supporting low-E coated, laminated
insulating glass.

Seattle, WA
Program
Seattles central public library containing
book stacks, reading rooms, meeting
rooms, a childrens center, administrative

United States offices, an auditorium, and parking

Architects
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
(OMA); LMN Architects

Client
Seattle Public Library

Facade Consultants
Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners;
Front

Structural Engineers
Arup; Magnusson Klemencic Associates

MEP Engineer
Arup

Civil Engineer
Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Completion Date
2004
Part III: Case Studies 128

Sited within the dense urban context of nated pane for safety and UV protection; a forego traditional concepts of library archi-
downtown Seattle, the 412,000-square- low-E coating; krypton gas fill for increased tecturebut also to the interior experience
foot (38,276-square-meter) Central Library thermal performance; and, in areas of the of the end users, who encounter the diagrid
owes its aggressively distinctive character building subject to intense summer sun, enclosure from different vantage points
to two defining design moves: the stack- an expanded aluminum mesh interlayer, throughout the eleven-story building.
ing and shifting of building masses into an which acts as a system of micro louvers to In recognition of the complexity and
unexpected prismatic form, and a custom reduce solar heat gain while maintaining overall importance of the building enve-
curtain wall system that wraps continuously views. The glass is supported by extruded- lope, an early bid package and contractor
around all sides of the building. aluminum glazing adapters attached either selection process for the curtain wall
The curtain wall is composed of diamond- to seismic structural-steel framing mem- allowed the architects to collaborate with
shaped panels of insulating glass, measur- bers (on sloped faces) or to I-beam-shaped the curtain wall manufacturer (the German
ing approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters) per mullions of extruded aluminum (on vertical firm Seele) throughout the design and
side, set within a diagrid framework of steel faces). It is held in place by exterior alumi- construction phases, ensuring that
and aluminum. As the primary cladding of num glazing caps. The building skin con- architectural design goals and stringent
the building, the glass units were designed tributes not only to the exterior character performance criteria were met.
for high performance and include a lami- of the buildingsignaling a willingness to

1
Unfolded elevation

2
Locations of glass
with metal mesh
interlayer

2
Seattle Public Library 129

3 6
Southwest corner Interior view of
curtain wall mounted
4 on seismic steel
Third-floor interior framing

5
Interior view from
fourth floor

5 6
Part III: Case Studies 130

7
Partial elevation

8
Plan
Seattle Public Library 131

F
E

B
16' 5" (5 m)

8
Section A Laminated insulating E Formed aluminum
glass with low-E gutter with stainless-
coating, argon fill, steel snow fence and
and mesh interlayer drain

B Extruded-aluminum F Raised floor

glazing adapter
G Concrete slab on
C Extruded-aluminum deck
diagonal mullion

D Structural steel
Case Study 132
Case Study 133

Terrence Donnelly Curtain Wall

The south facade: a double-skin glass
curtain wall, with an outer layer of monolithic

Centre for Cellular

glass and an inner layer of insulating glass,
each framed by extruded-aluminum
mullions and separated by an air space

and Biomolecular
Program
A human genome research facility with
laboratories, offices, and common spaces,
including multistory interior gardens

Research Architects
architectsAlliance; Behnisch Architekten

Toronto,Ontario Structural Engineer

Yolles Partnership

Canada
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer
HH Angus & Associates

Completion Date
2005
Part III: Case Studies 134

The twelve-story Terrence Donnelly Centre to the south, facing a landscaped entry In winter the air cavity remains sealed,
for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, plaza. It is this south-facing wall that is the as the sun naturally heats the air to create
located at the University of Torontos most technologically innovative. Offices a buffer between the interior and exterior;
St. George campus, is a high-performance here are enclosed with a double-skin glass in summer the cavity is freely ventilated.
building that achieves impressive levels curtain wall, framed by extruded-alumi- A computerized building system automat-
of energy efficiency andwith airy, light- num mullions, that provides a high degree ically adjusts the sunshades for optimal
filled spaces throughoutattention to of acoustic, solar, and thermal control. solar protection, although each individual
occupant comfort. The building responds The outer skin of monolithic glass is sepa- occupant may override the system, as
intelligently to its climate and orientation rated from the inner layer of insulating desired. Likewise, occupants can control
with an enclosure system that presents an glass by an air space of 2.5 feet (0.8 meters), the degree of ventilation in each office.
open face to the campus and adapts to containing retractable perforated alumi- When a window is opened, a sensor auto-
changing environmental conditions. At the num sunshade louvers to reduce solar matically switches off the heating and cool-
same time, it strikes a balance between auto- heat gain and redirect daylight into the ing supply to that space, thereby increasing
mated and individually controlled devices. building. The outer skin incorporates energy efficiency and avoiding waste.
The 248,000-square-foot (23,039-square- operable louvers at the top and bottom
meter) research facility is organized with to ventilate the cavity, while the inner
laboratories to the east, circulation to the wall has operable windows to naturally
west, and principal researchers offices ventilate the offices.

1 2
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and 135
Biomolecular Research

4
Interior view

1
Tenth-floor
plan

2
View from
southwest

3
Double-skin
curtain wall

4
Southwest
corner

5
Interior view

5
Part III: Case Studies 136

6
Partial elevation

4' (1.22 m)

7
Plan
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and 137
Biomolecular Research

A
G

I
C D

H
F

J
13' 4" (4.06 m)

8
Section A Monolithic G Insulating glass in
tempered glass extruded-aluminum
unit frame
B Stainless-steel
patch fitting H Aluminum spandrel
with insulation
C Mechanical
ventilation damper I Finished floor
over cantilevered
D Laminated tempered
concrete slab
glass floor
J Suspended ceiling
E Steel outrigger

F Automated blinds
Part III: Case Studies 138
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and 139
Biomolecular Research

9
West elevation
at night
Case Study 140
Case Study 141

Torre Agbar Curtain Wall

Custom system of clear and translucent
glass louvers suspended on extruded-

Barcelona, Spain
aluminum framing members, in front of
a load-bearing reinforced-concrete wall
with punched windows

Program
Office headquarters for a local water
company

Architect
Ateliers Jean Nouvel

Client
Layetana Inmuebles S.L.

Facade Consultants
Xavier Ferres (Biosca Botey); Alain Bony;
Arnauld de Bussierre

Structural Engineers
R. Brufau; A. Obiol

MEP Engineer
Gepro

Lighting Consultant
Yann Kersal

Completion Date
2005
Part III: Case Studies 142

Housing the headquarters of Barcelonas ensures a column-free interior, ranges in safety-glass louvers set at various angles.
water utility, Torre Agbar is a thirty-one-story, thickness from 19 inches (0.5 meters) at the These louvers are mounted on vertical
bullet-shaped tower sited within a new base to twelve inches at the twenty-ninth rails of anodized extruded aluminum that
commercial development in Plaa Glries. floor, where it ends; the upper six floors are suspended from the concrete wall
Jean Nouvels design was conceived as are framed in steel and clad in glass. on aluminum brackets at each floor level.
an expression of the fluidity of water and The exterior of the bearing wall is divided As compared to other all-glass curtain
its interaction with light. The architect likens into a continuous 1-square-meter (10.8- walls, the combination of louvers, a thick
the exterior to an enormous geyser of square-foot) grid covered in insulation and external wall, and a high ratio of solid wall
water under continuous pressure. corrugated aluminum panels painted to window create a more energy-efficient
In stark contrast to the popular formula- various shades of red, blue, green, yellow, building. The result of this unique building-
tion of the skyscraper as a glass-clad, and white. An apparently random pattern envelope system is an intriguing surface
steel- framed box, Torre Agbar employs of punched openings in the wall provides effect that is not merely a thin surface in
a reinforced- concrete bearing-wall struc- views, daylight, and natural ventilation, the normal sense, but a multilayered
ture, defined in plan and section by gentle incorporating insulating glass in extruded- surface that has a literal and metaphorical
curves pierced with 4,500 individual window aluminum window frames. The bearing depth unlike any other skyscraper in
openings. The bearing wall, which in wall is encased in a continuous external Barcelona or elsewhere.
conjunction with an internal structural core skin of clear and translucent laminated

1
Typical floor plan

2
Exterior detail 2
Torre Agbar 143

3
Unrolled elevation

4
Exterior night
view

5
Exterior daytime
view

4 5
Part III: Case Studies 144

6
Partial elevation

6' 6" (2.0 m)

7
Plan
Torre Agbar 145

A B
G

C
12' 2" (3.7 m)

8
Section A Laminated glass louver F Galvanized-steel
maintenance catwalk
B Anodized extruded-
aluminum rail G Raised floor

C Aluminum window H Concrete slab on

with low-E coated metal deck and
insulating glass steel beam

D Painted corrugated I Suspended ceiling

aluminum sheet
E Mineral wool insulation
over reinforced-
concrete wall
Part III: Case Studies 146

9
Torre Agbar 147

11
9
Interior views

10
Detail of louvers

11
Installation of
windows

10 12
Exterior view
at midlevel

12
Case Study 148
Case Study 149

Torre Cube Curtain Wall

Window walls with extruded-aluminum
framing and floor-to-ceiling monolithic

Guadalajara,
glass protected by a brise-soleil system
of timber slats

Program

Mexico
Leasable office space with underground
parking

Architect
Estudio Carme Pins

Client
Cube International

Structural Engineer
Luis Bozzo

Completion Date
2005
Part III: Case Studies 150

Sited in a dense office building develop- ning between the floor slabs. A system and allow natural ventilation in the offices.
ment, Torre Cube stands out among its of external brise-soleil panels protects the Additionally, on each side of the building
neighbors for its distinctive massing and building from excessive heat gain. They and at different heights, three floors of
material expression. The building houses are composed of heat-treated pine slats, office modules are eliminated to create
approximately 50,000 square feet (4,645 set in frames of welded steel that are sus- exterior plazas and promote the free circu-
square meters) of space on sixteen levels pended two feet in front of the glass wall lation of fresh air into the atrium. Because
and is organized around a central atrium (with a maintenance catwalk in-between). of these measures, and the mild climate
that is open to the sky. Three massive con- The varied spacing and natural color of Guadalajara, no air-conditioning is
crete corescontaining vertical circula- variation of the wood slats give the facade required in the offices.
tion, service spaces, and ductworkform an organic warmth that is unusual for
the main vertical structure of the building. office-building construction. Some of the
From these cores, steel girders are eye-level brise-soleil panels slide aside
cantilevered to support the column-free on tracks, allowing for unimpeded views
offices, which feature floor-to-ceiling glaz- and increased daylighting when desired.
ing on three sides. The glass is contained Sliding glass doors within the window wall
within frames of extruded aluminum, span- provide access to the brise-soleil panels

1
Section

2
Typical floor
plan

2
1
Torre Cube 151

3 4

3
Wood screen at
east elevation

4
View from
southeast

5
Construction
sequence

5
Part III: Case Studies 152

6
Partial elevation

5' 5" (1.65 m)

7
Plan
Torre Cube 153

A
B

C D

11' 6" (3.5 m)

I
E

F H

8
Section A Heat-treated pine strip F Steel pipe
on steel angle frame
G Steel outrigger
B Vertical steel-pipe
H Embedded steel
bracing
anchor plate at
C Guide track and rollers slab edge
for sliding screen
I Raised floor on
D Tempered monolithic concrete slab
glass in extruded-alumi-
J Suspended ceiling
num frame
E Maintenance catwalk:
galvanized-steel grating
Case Study 154
Case Study 155

Netherlands Curtain Wall

Custom double-layer wall with a
continuous outer screen of textured,

Institute for
color-stained glass panels bearing
abstracted scenes from Dutch television

Program

Sound and Vision

A 323,000-square-foot (30,007-square-
meter) media museum with interactive
exhibition spaces, a public atrium, archives,
offices, a museum store, workshops,

Hilversum, a cafe, and underground parking

Architect

the Netherlands
Neutelings Riedijk Architects

Client
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision

Facade Consultant
Jaap Drupsteen

Structural Engineer
Aronsohn Raadgevende

Building Physics
Cauberg-Huygen Raadgevende

Completion Date
2006
Part III: Case Studies 156

Three main program elements constitute the are mostly abstracted through a blurring and bottom) to steel channels, which are
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision: effect; the exact scenes are not immedi- anchored to continuous horizontal steel
a series of galleries for interactive media ately apparent, although many are discern- tubes. The tubes are suspended from the
exhibitions, a block of administrative offices, ible. The architects worked collaboratively roof above by vertical steel rods. The inner
and the national archives of Dutch radio with the graphic designer Jaap Drupsteen wall varies from clear insulating glass to a
and television. These spaces are grouped and the glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain solid, opaque wall. At the office wing, the
around a central atrium that extends from to develop a method of transferring the inner wall alternates between steel-framed
the front to the rear of the building and selected film stills onto glass by CNC- insulating glass windows and precast-
from the lowest floor to the skylit roof. milling them onto a wood panel, which concrete wall panels faced with insulation
In a unique twist on the modernist ideal was then used as a mold onto which the and fiber-cement sheeting. In these areas,
of a facade expressing the inner function of glass, along with colored ceramic paste, the colored outer glass is replaced in
the building, the outer skin of the institute were placed and then heated. This process every third bay with clear glass to provide
consists of a composition of glass panels imparts the colored, textured image in unimpeded views from the offices.
imprinted with 748 specific images, or still relief onto the glass.
frames, from Dutch television programs, These tempered-glass panels, measuring
selected from the national archives (housed .375 inches (1 centimeter) thick, are used
inside and presumably in the collective mem- to clad all four sides of the building. They
ory of the TV-watching public). The images are typically glazed on two sides (top

1
Section

2
Textured-glass
panel at west
elevation

3
East elevation

4
Interior view at
atrium

1
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision 157

3 4
Part III: Case Studies 158

5
Partial elevation

3' 11" (1.2 m)

6
Plan
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision 159

B
C
10' 5" (3.16 m)

E F

7
Section A Custom-patterned F Steel tube column
cast glass in pivoting
G Cement-fiber panel
steel frame
over mineral-fiber
B Clear tempered glass insulation
at operable vent
H Precast-concrete
C Steel suspension rod wall panel

D Steel tube I Finished floor on

concrete slab
E Insulating glass in
thermally broken
steel frame
Part III: Case Studies 160

8
West elevation
at night

9
Southeast corner

10
Detail of textured-
glass panel

8
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision 161

10
Case Study 162
Case Study 163

Skirkanich Hall Curtain Wall

Customized thermally broken stick
system with angled mullions of

Philadelphia, PA
extruded aluminum supporting clear
and translucent glass panels

Program

United States
Research and instructional laboratories
and office space for the School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences
at the University of Pennsylvania

Architect
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Client
University of Pennsylvania School of
Engineering and Applied Science

Associate Architect
Guggenheimer Architects

Curtain Wall Consultant

Axis Group Limited

Structural Engineer
Severud Associates

MEP Engineer
Ambrosino, Depinto & Schmeider

Completion Date
2006
Part III: Case Studies 164

The work of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien walls with angled, shinglelike glass panels spandrels are insulating glass with translu-
is generally remarkable for its intense that incorporate alternating bands of cent acid-etching on the second surface
focus on material expression and attention transparency and translucency. and ceramic frit on the fourth surface; and
to architectural detailing. This is particularly Designed primarily to bring natural light the bottom free-floating panel at each
evident in their design for Skirkanich Hall, into the corners of each floor, the curtain level is tempered monolithic glass with
a 58,000-square-foot (5,388-square- wall employs stick-built framing of painted, translucent acid-etching on the second
meter) laboratory facility at the University thermally broken extruded-aluminum surface. The lower glass panels cantilever
of Pennsylvania. The building envelope mullions suspended from the face of each beyond the edges of the curtain wall
consists mostly of standard campus archi- cast-in-place concrete floor slab. Each story- frame and are each supported with two
tecture materials, brick and glass, but high mullion angles out at its base, with countersunk stainless-steel bolts anchor-
here the materials have been customized the bottom row of glass overlapping the ing them to the vertical mullion.
and altered from their traditional incarna- top row of the level below. Through vari-
tions. The opaque walls are clad in cus- ous fabrication techniques, the glass is
tom- glazed, textured, moss-green brick rendered either transparent or translucent,
that creates a sense of mass and weight. depending on its location in section. At
Within these solid masses, intermittent vision areas, from sill to ceiling, the glass
vertical openings are marked by curtain is clear, low-E coated insulating glass;

1
Typical floor plan

2
East elevation

1 2
Skirkanich Hall 165

3
Installation of
glass in stick
curtain wall system

4
Curtain wall detail

5
Interior of
laboratory

5
Part III: Case Studies 166

6
Partial elevation

3' 9" (1.14 m)

7
Plan
Skirkanich Hall 167

A
15' 6" (4.72 m)

B
E

8
Section A Clear insulating glass E Steel bracket
with low-E coating
F Adjustable blind
B Insulating glass with
G Cantilevered
acid etch on #2 surface
reinforced-concrete
and ceramic frit on #4
floor slab
C Tempered monolithic
H Suspended
glass with acid etch
ceiling
on second surface

D Thermally broken
extruded-aluminum
mullion
Case Study 168
Case Study 169

Trutec Building Curtain Wall

Custom unit system with insulating glass
structurally glazed to flat and projecting

Seoul, Korea
unit frames of extruded aluminum

Program
Office and showroom spaces with
underground parking

Architect
Barkow Leibinger Architekten

Client
TKR Sang-Am

Contact Architect
Chang-Jo Architects

Facade Consultants
Arup Facade Engineering; Alutek

Structural Engineers
Schlaich Bergermann and Partner;
Jeon and Lee Partners

Completion Date
2006
Part III: Case Studies 170

The Trutec Building, containing eleven The curtain wall is composed of a cus- technology to precisely cut and assemble
floors of offices and showrooms, was one tom prefabricated unit system framed with the complex three-dimensional unit frames.
of the first buildings constructed in a new extruded-aluminum mullions. In order to Barkow Leibinger Architekten success-
commercial development in Seoul, Korea, control solar heat gain while providing a fully pairs a sculptural approacha play
known as Digital Media City, intended to predominantly glass facade, a reflective with light, reflections, and perception
be a center of international business and low-E coated insulating glass is used. Within with technical rigor. It is this combination
information technology. With a limited each curtain wall unit, the glass panels of aesthetic and technical exploration that
budget and little preexisting context, the are divided into nonorthogonal fragments, results in the most innovative examples
architects developed a building envelope some of which are angled slightly out of of curtain wall construction.
that utilizes innovative digital fabrication the plane of the wall. The complex facade
techniques and is characterized by unique is actually composed of just two basic
abstract visual effects. The curtain wall unit types: one flat, two-dimensional unit;
visually captures the surrounding con- and one projecting, three-dimensional
textwhether it be the sky, cars, or other unit, which can be rotated 180 degrees to
buildingswithin its fragmented glass produce a third type. In order to make
surfaces, reflecting it back in a kaleido- such variation economically feasible, the
scope of light and color. curtain wall fabricator used CNC digital

1
Elevations
Trutec Building 171

2
Curtain wall unit
configuration
diagram

3
3-way joint
Northwest
elevation

4-way joint

Plan detail

Plan detail

3
Part III: Case Studies 172

4
Partial elevation

8' 10" (2.7 m)

5
Plan
Trutec Building 173

D
C
E
13' 9" (4.2 m)

G H I

6
Section A Adjustable F Insulating glass
antiglare blind with low-E coating

B Steel beam with G Extruded-aluminum

fireproofing stack joint

C Steel column, H Floor register with

galvanized-metal convector and uplight
cladding
I Raised floor
D Suspended ceiling,
J Steel and concrete
galvanized perforated-
composite floor
metal panel
E CNC-cut, extruded-
aluminum mullion
Part III: Case Studies 174

7
Trutec Building 175

7
Night view

8
Northeast
elevation

9
Main entry

8 9

10
Interior view

11
Interior
view with
translucent
shades

10

11
Case Study 176
Case Study 177

Biomedical Curtain Wall

A curvilinear double-skin curtain wall
consisting of an outer wall of monolithic

Science Research
glass in a prefabricated unit system and
an inner wall of insulating glass in a stick
system, separated by an air space

Building
Program
A 472,000-square-foot (43,850-square-
meter) building, with research laboratories,
offices, conference rooms, seminar

Ann Arbor, MI rooms, an auditorium, and a cafe

Architect

United States
Polshek Partnership Architects

Client
University of Michigan

Curtain Wall Consultant

Heitmann and Associates

Structural Engineer
Severud Associates

MEP Engineer
Bard, Rao and Athanas Consulting
Engineers

Sustainability Consultant
Buro Happold

Completion Date
2006
Part III: Case Studies 178

This research facility is sited between The inner curtain wall consists of a stan- air escapes at the top of the wall, fresh air
the University of Michigans main campus dard stick system with extruded-aluminum is drawn in at the bottom. In winter, the air
and its medical school, creating a new link mullions, insulating glass, and insulated space remains sealed and is heated by
between the two. Its primary programmatic spandrel panels. The outer wall is a prefab- the sun, creating a buffer between dispa-
elements are discernable in the buildings ricated unit system with frames of extruded rate exterior and interior air temperatures.
overall form. To the north, a rectilinear aluminum, structurally glazed single-pane Compared to a conventional single-layer
L-shaped block contains laboratories and glass, and no spandrels. At curved portions, glass curtain wall, the double wall provides
support spaces, separated from the offices the inner wall is faceted, while the outer expansive views and a higher level of ther-
by a skylit atrium. The offices are arranged wall employs bent glass and curved mul- mal comfort for office occupants, improved
in an organically shaped, curvilinear band lions. The two walls are separated by an acoustical separation from the street, and
facing south, toward the street and the air space of about four feet, with the outer lower energy use.
main campus. The laboratory block is wall supported on steel outriggers at each
enclosed predominantly in insulating glass mullion. The air space contains adjustable
and rainscreen panels of terra-cotta and blinds, maintenance catwalks, and track-
stainless steel. The most innovative enclo- mounted movable platforms for glass
sure system is the double-skin curtain cleaning. In summer, the stack effect is
wall of the south-facing offices. used to ventilate the air space; as heated

1
Typical floor plan

1
Biomedical Science Research Building 179

2 3

2
Installation of
curtain wall

3
View west from plaza

4
Double-skin glass
curtain wall at south-
facing offices

4
Part III: Case Studies 180

5
Partial elevation

9' (2.75 m)

6
Plan
Biomedical Science Research Building 181

A D
B C

E
F
15' 6" (4.72 m)

G I

J
K

7
Section A Structurally glazed F Extruded-aluminum
monolithic glass stick-system mullion

B Extruded-aluminum G Galvanized-steel
unit frame maintenance catwalk

C Retractable blinds H Steel outrigger

D Stainless-steel I Concrete floor on

spandrel panel with metal deck
insulation
J Adjustable blind
E Insulating glass
K Suspended ceiling
with low-E coating
Part III: Case Studies 182

8
Double-skin curtain
wall in winter (left)
and summer (right)

9
Double-skin
glass curtain
wall from below

8 Winter Summer
Biomedical Science Research Building 183

9
Case Study 184
Case Study 185

ATLAS Building Curtain Wall

Stick system of extruded-aluminum
mullions with low-E coated insulating

Wageningen,
vision glass and aluminum spandrel
panels, installed inboard of a precast-
concrete-diagrid structural frame

the Netherlands
Program
Research laboratories and offices for
the Environmental Sciences Group
at Wageningen University

Architect
Rafael Violy Architects

Associate Architect
Van den Oever, Zaaijer and Partners

Client
Wageningen University

Structural/Civil Engineer
Pieters Bouwtechniek

MEP Engineer
Schreuder Groep

Building Physics
DGMR

Completion Date
2006
Part III: Case Studies 186

Located in a newly developed research tain wall configurationrather than a glass

district on the somewhat rural campus skin enclosing the building structure, the
of Wageningen University, the seven-story building appears as a glass box set within
ATLAS Building houses 105,000 square a protective latticework of concrete. The
feet (9,755 square meters) of laboratories diagrid structure also acts as an external shad-
and office space organized around a central ing device for the floor-to-ceiling glass wall
skylit atrium. The building presents a sculp- installed approximately two and a half feet
tural yet strikingly simple facade dominated behind it. At each level, the wall is divided
by an external precast-concrete diagrid into three horizontal bands of glass, with the
that wraps around all four sides. The exo- middle strip incorporating operable hopper
skeleton configuration was designed by windows. The curtain wall provides the inte-
Rafael Violy Architects to provide flexi- rior spaces with ample daylighting, natural
ble, column-free interior spaces that could ventilation, and a strong visual connection
be easily transformed and repartitioned to the surrounding landscape. The external
according to future needs. space between the wall and structure con-
Here, the relationship of structure to skin tains retractable blinds for solar control and
is an intriguing inversion of the typical cur- maintenance catwalks on each level.

1
West elevation

2
Interior view

3
Diagrid structure
at corner

4
Maintenance
catwalk between
external diagrid
structure and
curtain wall

1
ATLAS Building 187

4
Part III: Case Studies 188

5
Partial elevation

5' 11" (1.80 m)

6
Plan
ATLAS Building 189

B H

E
11' 10" (3.6 m)

7
Section A Precast-concrete F Painted extruded-
diagrid structure aluminum mullion

B Steel grate mainte- G In-swinging oper-

nance catwalk able window
C Exterior adjustable H Finished floor on
blinds reinforced-concrete
slab
D Painted aluminum
spandrel panel I Suspended ceiling
with insulation

E Insulating glass with

low-E coating
Case Study 190
Case Study 191

Blue Tower Curtain Wall

A semicustom unit system with
tinted insulating glass and operable

New York, NY
windows set within frames of
extruded-aluminum mullions

Program

United States
Residential tower with thirty-two
apartments

Design Architect
Bernard Tschumi Architects

Executive Architect
SLCE Architects

Client
Angelo Cosentini and John Carson

Curtain Wall Consultant

Israel Berger and Associates

Structural Engineer
Thornton Tomasetti

MEP Engineers
Ettinger Engineers

Completion Date
2007
Part III: Case Studies 192

Blue Tower is one of a handful of recently zoning setback requirements, with angled selection and unique mullion extrusions,
constructed mid-rise residential buildings walls that slope in and out. The building is necessary to accommodate the unusual
now transforming the skyline of New York covered with approximately 4,000 pieces of corner geometries where sloped and
Citys Lower East Side. The sixteen-story, glass in a prefabricated-unit-system curtain vertical walls meet. The curtain wall fabrica-
cast-in-place concrete structure contains wall. The pixelated effect of the facade is tor, AGT, utilized extensive digital three-
thirty-two apartments with a total floor area achieved through the use of six different dimensional modeling, CNC fabrication,
of 55,000 square feet (5,110 square meters). types of glass: blue- and gray-tinted insu- and GPS site survey techniques to ensure
Two aspects of the design give Blue Tower lating vision glass and four shades of blue proper detailing and installation of the
its distinctive appearance: the geometry spandrel glass. The curtain wall incorpo- geometrically complex curtain wall.
of the building form and the expression rates operable windows for natural ventila-
of the curtain wall. tion as well as louvered vents that supply
Utilizing air rights to the adjacent site, fresh air to air-conditioning units.
the tower cantilevers over an existing two- Although based on a standard prefabri-
story commercial building; the massing cated unit system, the curtain wall has been
of the tower also responds creatively to somewhat customized through novel glass

1
North-south section
RF

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

1
Blue Tower 193

2 3

2
Curtain wall unit
installation

3
Detail at west
elevation

4
Levels thirteen
to sixteen

4
Part III: Case Studies 194

5
Partial elevation

3' 4" (1.02 m)

6
Plan
Blue Tower 195

E
G

C
10' 4" (3.15 m)

7
Section A Tinted insulating glass F Curtain wall anchor
with low-E coating
G Continuous fire-safe
B Extruded-aluminum insulation at slab
stack joint edge
C Extruded-aluminum H Concrete column,
mullion gypsum-board
cladding
D Operable window

E Reinforced-concrete
flat slab
Part III: Case Studies 196

8
Unfolded elevation

9
View from south

8
Blue Tower 197

9
Case Study 198
Case Study 199

The Nelson-Atkins Curtain Wall

A custom double-skin system incorporating
an outer wall of translucent, sandblasted

Museum of Art
channel-glass planks separated by a 3-foot
(0.9-meter) space from an inner wall of
translucent laminated glass

Kansas City, MO
Program
A 165,000-square-foot (15,329-square-
meter) addition to the original 1933
building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum

United States that includes new permanent and special

exhibition galleries, education areas,
conservation facilities, meeting spaces,
shops, administrative offices, and
underground parking

Architect
Steven Holl Architects

Local Architect
Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell
Architects

Client
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Curtain Wall Consultant

R. A. Heintges and Associates

Structural Engineer
Guy Nordenson and Associates

Associate Structural Engineer

Structural Engineering Associates

Mechanical Engineers
Ove Arup and Partners; W. L. Cassell
and Associates

Lighting Consultant
Renfro Design Group

Completion Date
2007
Part III: Case Studies 200

Steven Holl Architects expansion of the Though interrupted in some areas by horizontal aluminum channel that supports
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, known as bands of clear insulating glass that provide the plank at its top and bottom edges.
the Bloch Building, fuses the new architec- direct views inside and out, the primary The inner wall, separated by a three-foot
ture with the museums sprawling sculpture curtain wall features various forms of con- (0.9-meter) air cavity housing blinds and
garden. New gallery spaces are arranged tinuous translucent glass, which react light fixtures, consists of floor-to-ceiling
in a linear fashion along the garden, dynamically to changing light conditions translucent, acid-etched, UV-blocking
marked by five glass-clad volumes, which throughout the day. The typical double- laminated glass. Low-iron glass was used
the architect refers to as light-gathering layer curtain wall incorporates an outer throughout to avoid the natural greenish
lenses that emerge from the garden skin of interlocking, translucent, U-shaped tint of regular clear glass.
landscape. The lenses incorporate a com- channel-glass planks with a sandblasted
plex double-skinned glass-wall system, finish and translucent Okalux insulation
which provides the galleries with diffused between the planks. Because of its structural
natural light by day (modulated by com- shape, channel glass is self-supporting and
puter-controlled screens within the wall does not rely on mullions or any other form
cavity). The building glows from within of vertical support, even when used in
at night, turning the lenses into large- heights up to 20 feet (6.1 meters). The only
scale sculptures in their own right. metal element in such a system is the

1
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 201

1
Translucent channel
glass curtain wall

2
View of inner wall
with clear and acid-
etched glass

3
Exterior view of
channel glass wall
at night

3
Part III: Case Studies 202

4
Partial elevation

5
Plan
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 203

E
B

D
C
12' (3.66 m)

F I

6
Section A Sandblasted low-iron F Light fixture
channel glass with
G Fireproofed
translucent insulation
steel beam
B Extruded-aluminum
H Automated blinds
stack joint anchored
to steel tube I Concrete floor slab
C Laminated acid-etched
on metal deck
safety glass J Suspended ceiling

D Steel suspension rod

E Galvanized-steel-
grate catwalk
Part III: Case Studies 204

7
Longitudinal
section

8
Translucent glass
lenses emerging
from sculpture
garden

8
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 205

9
Exterior of glass
lense

10
Daylit entrance
lobby

10
Case Study 206
Case Study 207

The New York Curtain Wall

Custom unit system with a frame of
extruded-aluminum mullions supporting

Times Building
insulating glass and an external brise-
soleil of horizontal ceramic rods

Program

New York, NY
Office space, ground-floor retail space,
an open-air garden, and an auditorium

Architects

United States Renzo Piano Building Workshop;

FXFOWLE Architects

Client
The New York Times Company

Developer
Forest City Ratner Companies

Interior Architect
Gensler

Exterior Wall Consultant

Heitman and Associates; Forst Consulting
Company

Structural Engineers
Thornton Tomasetti

MEP Engineer
Flack and Kurtz

Completion Date
2007
Part III: Case Studies 208

In 2000, Renzo Piano won the competition floor slab. The vertical mullions, spaced in all) create a unique diaphanous skin
to build the new headquarters of The New on 5-foot (1.5-meter) centers, also support that defines the character of the building.
York Times Company. His design for the the external sun-shading veil of ceramic The white rods reflect external environ-
1.5-million-square-foot (139,354-square- tubespositioned about eighteen inches mental conditions, altering color with the
meter), fifty-two-story tower features a in front of the glasswhich reduce solar changing skygray in overcast weather,
custom-unit curtain wall system with floor- heat gain by up to 50 percent. An innova- bright white in midday sun, orange and
to-ceiling insulating glass and a second tive lighting system, developed in associa- pink as the sun rises and sets. During the
layer of external sunshading ceramic rods. tion with Lawrence Berkeley National buildings first year of use, the horizontal
The building represents an application Laboratory, takes advantage of the natural rods proved an irresistible invitation to
of the brise-soleil concept on an immense light coming through the curtain wall and three attention-seekers who scaled the
scale, unprecedented in New York City. uses automated dimming and shade sys- curtain wall (two reached the top of the
The curtain wall incorporates ultraclear tems to minimize the need for electric building using the ceramic rods like rungs
insulating glass in prefabricated units, power, reducing energy consumption by in a ladder), prompting the owner to
framed by extruded-aluminum mullions 30 percent. In addition to providing critical remove those closest to the base of the
that are anchored to the edge of each sun-shading, the ceramic rods (186,000 building in the summer of 2008.

1
Typical tower floor
plan

2
West elevation at
sunset

1 2
The New York Times Building 209

3
Aluminum-framed
glass curtain wall with
external brise-soleil
of ceramic rods

4
Interior view

4
Part III: Case Studies 210

5
Partial elevation

5' (1.52 m)

6
Plan
The New York Times Building 211

3' 4" (1.02 m)

A B J
13' 9" (4.19 m)

C F

7
Section A Glazed ceramic tubes F Painted extruded-
with internal aluminum aluminum unit frame
connection
G Painted aluminum
B Painted aluminum spandrel panel
vertical strut
H Automated internal
C Painted aluminum shade
horizontal strut
I Raised floor over
D Steel suspension rod concrete slab on deck

E Low-iron insulating J Suspended ceiling

glass with low-E
coating
Part III: Case Studies 212

8
The New York Times Building 213

8 9
Night view of tower Ceramic-rod brise-soleil
at main entrance

9
Case Study 214
Case Study 215

Spertus Institute Curtain Wall

Custom hybrid system of structural,
preglazed, silkscreened insulating glass

of Jewish Studies
units in multiple shapes mounted onto
stick-built mullions of extruded aluminum

Program

Chicago, IL
Permanent and temporary exhibition
galleries, classrooms, a library, an
auditorium, conference rooms, a cafe,
and a gift shop

United States Architect

Krueck + Sexton Architects

Associate Architect
VOA Associates

Client
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies

Curtain Wall Consultant

Shepphird Associates

Structural Engineer
Tylk Gustafson Reckers Wilson Andrews

MEP Engineer
Environmental Systems Design

Completion Date
2007
Part III: Case Studies 216

The new Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies shapes. Portions of the undulating wall PVB interlayer, providing several benefits:
both contrasts with and complements the project outward by as much as 5 feet (1.5 improved safety, better acoustical insula-
line of traditional masonry buildings it meters) and inward by 2 feet (0.6 meters). tion, and protection from potentially
joins along Chicagos famous Michigan With such variation in orientation, the glass damaging UV light.
Avenue, facing eastward toward Grant Park. surfaces simultaneously transmit and reflect The glass is factory-glazed along each
Unapologetically contemporary, though sunlight through and across the facade. edge with a structural silicone sealant that
respectful of contextual cues such as The double-pane insulating glass includes adheres it to a minimal frame of extruded
height and massing, the buildings main a high-performance low-E coating on the aluminum. These units are then mounted
facade measures 80 by 181 feet (24.4 by second surface for improved thermal per- onto Y-shaped aluminum mullions, span-
55.2 meters) and is clad entirely in a folded, formance as well as a silkscreened pattern ning vertically from floor to floor, that bend
faceted custom glass curtain wall. The of white ceramic frit dots for solar shading and twist as the shape of the wall dictates.
effect of this crystalline structure is a com- covering 40 percent of the surface. Visible Near the center of the facade, a portion of
bination of transparency and reflectivity, from within a few feet, the dot pattern the wall peels away from the building mass
suggesting a sense of openness and con- disappears when viewed from greater dis- to form a kind of canopy, sheltering the
nectivity that suits the institutes mission. tances and lends the glass a softness and street-level entryway and revealing the
The curtain wall incorporates 726 indi- material presence. The inner pane of the construction method of the curtain wall.
vidual pieces of glass in 556 different insulating-glass unit is laminated with a

1
Longitudinal section

2
View from Michigan
Avenue

2
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies 217

3
Curtain wall extension
forms canopy at entrance

4
Interior view of pre-
glazed unit frame and
Y-mullions

5
View toward Lake
Michigan
4

5
Part III: Case Studies 218

6
Partial elevation

4' 4" (1.32 m)

7
Plan
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies 219

G
D

H
14' (4.27 m)

B C
7' (2.13 m)

8
Section A Structurally glazed E Radiator
laminated insulating
F Concrete slab on
glass with low-E
metal deck
coating and ceramic
frit silkscreen G Fireproofed steel
B Extruded-aluminum
beam
unit frame H Suspended ceiling
C Bent extruded-
aluminum mullion

D Adjustable translucent
blind
Part III: Case Studies 220

9
Interior view

9
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies 221

26 27 28 29 30 31

01 33 03
32

05
02 04

06 08

07 09 10 11

12 21
13
22
2

14 15
24
2 4

16 17

25
25

20 18 23 19 11
37
38
34 35 36
39
10

10
Diagram of curtain
wall facets
Anchor plate
Y-mullion
11
Curtain wall
axonometric Rotating knife
plate extrusion

12 Alum. saddle extrusion

Plan detail at S.S. hook plate
typical Y-mullion Alum. framing
extrusion
1-7/16 laminated fritted
low-iron glazing unit

Work point

12
Case Study 222
Case Study 223

United States Curtain Wall

High-performance window wall with floor-
to-ceiling insulating glass, operable vents,

Federal Building
and external sun-shading provided by a
second skin of perforated stainless-steel
panels at the southeast elevation and
translucent glass fins at the northwest

San Francisco, CA Program

Office space for U.S. federal departments,
including Labor, Defense, Health and

United States Human Services, and Agriculture; health

and fitness center; conference facilities;
child care center; and a cafe

Architect
Morphosis

Executive Architect
Smith Group

Client
U.S. General Services Administration

Curtain Wall Consultant

Curtain Wall Design and Consulting

Structural and MEP Engineer

Ove Arup and Partners

Civil Engineer
Brian Kangas Foulk

Natural Ventilation Modeling

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Artist Collaborators
James Turrell, Ed Ruscha, Rupert Garcia,
Hung Liu, Raymond Saunders,
William Wiley

Completion Date
2007
Part III: Case Studies 224

The U.S. General Services Administration, (19.8 meters) wide, to maximize views and The building skin is not static. A central-
acting as client for the new 600,000-square- incoming light and to enable natural cross- ized computer system automatically opens
foot (55,741-square-meter) United States ventilation of the offices, taking advantage and closes windows and sunshade panels
Federal Building in San Francisco, sought of San Franciscos temperate climate. The in response to interior air temperature and
an exemplary building that would reduce two broad faces of the tower are enclosed external environmental conditions, such as
consumption of natural resources, minimize by walls of clear floor-to-ceiling insulating temperature, wind speed, and wind direc-
waste, and create a healthy, productive glass with operable windows. To protect tion. (Manual override controls are also
workplace for the buildings daily users. these walls from excessive solar heat gain, provided for use by individuals.) At night,
The project team, headed by the architects sun-shading is provided at the southeast the windows open to flush out heat that
of Morphosis, responded with a design elevation by an external armature of per- has built up during the day, allowing night-
featuring advanced sustainable technolo- forated stainless-steel panels and, at the time air to cool the buildings concrete
gies in an emphatically nontraditional wrap- northwest elevation, by light-diffusing interior. The thermal mass of the exposed
per. The building envelope is a machine translucent glass fins. The articulation of concrete walls, columns, and ceilings keeps
that not only provides light, views, and these two shading systems, with the details the interior cool throughout the day.
protection from the elements, but also cir- of their fabrication and assembly clearly
culates air and reduces energy use. on display, defines the buildings charac-
The main component of the complex ter: a machine aesthetic that celebrates
is an eighteen-story tower conceived with the importance of orientation and
a slender floor plate measuring 65 feet responsiveness to climate.

1
Interior view at office:
aluminum-framed
window wall with insu-
lating glass, operable
windows, and external
sun-shading panels

2
Northwest elevation

3
Translucent glass fins at
northwest elevation

1
United States Federal Building 225

3
Part III: Case Studies 226

4
Partial elevation

7' 4" (2.24 m)

5
Plan
United States Federal Building 227

D I J

A
B
E
13' (3.96 m)

C
F

6
Section A Perforated stainless- F Operable out-
steel sunshade panels swinging windows

B Galvanized-steel G Extruded-aluminum
tube frame unit frame

C Steel suspension rod H Radiator

D Galvanized-steel- I Reinforced-
grate catwalk concrete slab

E Insulating glass J Raised floor

Part III: Case Studies 228

7
United States Federal Building 229

8 9

7
Perforated stainless-
steel skin at east corner

8
East corner

9
Oblique view from plaza

10
Perforated stainless-
steel sunshade in front
of glass and aluminum
window wall

10
Case Study 230
Case Study 231

Yale Sculpture Curtain Wall

Standard stick system customized with
an external brise-soleil, triple-pane

Building
insulating glass, and high-performance
spandrel insulation

Program

New Haven, CT
Art studios, a gallery, machine shops,
classrooms, and offices

Architect

United States KieranTimberlake Associates

Client
Yale University

Structural Engineer
CVM Engineers

MEP and Civil Engineer

BVH Integrated Services

Environmental Consultant
Atelier Ten

Completion Date
2007
Part III: Case Studies 232

In designing the new 51,000-square- The curtain wall framing consists of wall transmits natural light, even though
foot (4,738-square-meter) home for Yale standard stick-built mullions of thermally transparent glass is limited to vision areas
Universitys sculpture department, Kieran- broken, extruded aluminum with external (approximately 60 percent of the surface),
Timberlake Associates was challenged to glazing caps. This system was customized and therefore, the need for artificial light-
provide a high degree of transparency and through the use of high-performance ing is greatly reduced. The curtain wall
natural light for the art studios while achiev- glazing, including triple-pane, argon-filled, also contains numerous operable windows
ing ambitious overall energy-efficiency low-E coated insulating glass at vision for natural ventilation.
objectives, all within the context of New areas; and on the exterior, superinsulated The other important custom feature
Englands harsh seasonal weather extremes. spandrel panels incorporating double-pane, of the curtain wall is the array of horizontal
The building envelope plays a major role in low-E insulating glass, a 3-inch (7.6-centi- aluminum sunshade louvers supported
the attainment of these goals, through the meter) air space, and a translucent Kalwall on vertical aluminum channels located
use of a high-performance curtain wall with fiberglass panel with aerogel insulation. approximately 2 feet (0.6 meters) outside
innovative glass specification and solar The spandrel panels achieve an insulation of the curtain wall, on the south and east
design strategies.The Sculpture Building value of R-20, while the average value of elevations. The angle of the louvers is
earned a LEED Platinum rating and was the curtain wall system overall is R-8 calibrated to allow low-angle winter sun
named one of 2008s Top Ten Green Projects more than four times better than a con- to reach the glass while blocking direct
by the American Institute of Architects ventional curtain wall. Due to the use of summer sun and guarding against exces-
Committee on the Environment. translucent spandrels, the entire curtain sive solar heat gain and glare.

1
East elevation at night

1
Yale Sculpture Building 233

2
Aluminum brise-soleil
at southeast corner

3
Glass and aluminum
curtain wall (left)
and aluminum
brise-soleil (right)

4
Interior view at
sculpture studio

4 3
Part III: Case Studies 234

5
Partial elevation

5' (1.52 m)

6
Plan
Yale Sculpture Building 235

H
I J

8' 4" (2.54 m)

C
14' (4.27 m)

F
3' 11" (1.20 m)

E
D

7
Section A Aluminum sunshade F Thermally broken
louvers extruded-aluminum
mullion
B Vertical aluminum
channels G Adjustable
translucent blind
C Triple-pane insulating
glass with low-E H HVAC console
coating and argon fill
I Aluminum bracket
D Double-pane
J Concrete slab on
insulating glass with
deck over structural
low-E coating
steel framing
E Translucent fiberglass
panel with aerogel
insulation
Case Study 236
Case Study 237

The Cathedral of Curtain Wall

Custom prefabricated unit system with
laminated glass in extruded-aluminum

Christ the Light

framing mounted to a laminated-wood
structural system.

Program

Oakland, CA
A cathedral, mausoleum, offices, library,
conference center, cafe and bookstore,
and underground parking

United States Architect

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

Architect of Record
Kendall/Heaton Associates

Client
Diocese of Oakland

Structural Engineer
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

Mechanical Engineer
Taylor Engineering

Electrical Engineer
Engineering Enterprise

Completion Date
2008
Part III: Case Studies 238

The Diocese of Oakland wanted its new Within the sanctuary, which seats 1,350 wall is anchored to horizontal steel tubes
cathedral to embody light, drawing on people, the main building structure is com- that span between the massive upright
deep metaphoric associations in religious posed of a series of curved and straight wooden columns. At the top of the wall,
traditions. The cathedral complex, built laminated Douglas fir columns that extend vertical stainless-steel mullion extensions
to replace an older one that was damaged the full height of the building. The skin is point toward the sky. The interior face of
during the 1989 San Francisco Bay earth- formed by a custom curtain wall system, the enclosure is formed by wooden louvers
quake, includes a concrete base, housing with unit frames of extruded aluminum that simultaneously diffuse and redirect
offices, meeting spaces, residences for holding 1,028 panes of laminated, low-E sunlight to the interior, partially screen the
clergy, and a bookstore and cafe. Rising coated glass that are silkscreened with a curtain wall, and provide brief glimpses
from the rooftop plaza of the base is the custom-patterned ceramic frit. This effect between louvers to create a sense of
luminous main sanctuary, a tapered space renders the glass translucent, serving to mystery as to the source of the light.
measuring 100 feet (30.5 meters) in height, diffuse the light passing through the curtain
forming two interlocking spherical grids wall, and the glass walls glow at night when
that are draped in glass and topped by lit from within. Each glass unit measures
a central glass oculus. 4.5 by 10 feet (1.4 by 3 meters). The curtain

1
West elevation

1
The Cathedral of Christ the Light 239

2
Internal structure
revealed by sunlight

3
Laminated glass with
custom ceramic-frit
pattern in unit frames
of extruded aluminum

4
South elevation

4
Part III: Case Studies 240

5
Partial elevation

4' 6" (1.37 m)

6
Plan
The Cathedral of Christ the Light 241

10' 2" (3.1 m)

A

D
E

H
I

7
Section A Laminated glass with F Steel rod
low-E coating and cross-bracing
custom-patterned
G Reinforced-
ceramic frit
concrete base
B Extruded-aluminum
H Light fixture
unit frame
C
I Maintenance
Horizontal steel tube
walkway
D Laminated Douglas
fir column

E Laminated Douglas
fir sunshade louver
Part III: Case Studies 242

8
Ground-floor plan

9
Oculus at center of
sanctuary ceiling
with suspended
aluminum panels to
diffuse light

9
The Cathedral of Christ the Light 243

10 11

10
Detail of curtain wall
connections at south
elevation

11
Laminated wood
structure and louvers
at interior

12
Longitudinal section

12
Case Study 244
Case Study 245

100 Eleventh Curtain Wall

Custom unit system with semireflective,
low-E coated insulating glass set at

Avenue
various angles within aluminum and
steel frames

Program

New York, NY
Residential condominiums

Design Architect
Ateliers Jean Nouvel

United States Executive Architect

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects
and Planners

Client
West Chelsea Development Partners

Curtain Wall Consultants

CCA Facade Technology; UAD Group;
Front

Structural Engineer
DeSimone Consulting Engineers

MEP Engineer
Atkinson Koven Feinberg Engineers

Environmental Consultant
Roux Associates

LEED Consultant
YRG Sustainability Consultants

Completion Date
2009
Part III: Case Studies 246

This twenty-three-story residential tower applied to the building in the direction of tilted in different directionsleft, right,
in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood the major views; from a closer vantage up, and down. In all, there are more than
displays a dichotomy between front and point, it reveals itself as an intricate collage 1,600 individually sized glass panels.
back, solidity and lightness. The front of of angled glass panels set within an irregular This diversity of orientation results in
the building, facing west and south toward network of narrow mullions. Insulating glass striking optical effects. The glass wall oscil-
the nearby Hudson River, presents a patch- with a low-E coating and laminated inner lates between transparency and reflectivity,
work of semireflective glass in curtain wall pane (for safety and UV protection) is sup- with no two adjacent glass panels the
units of various shapes and sizes wrapping ported by extruded-aluminum frames, same. The irregular mullion spacing also
around a curved corner. What may be which are contained within larger prefabri- serves to frame very specific views from
considered the back of the building, facing cated unit frames of powder-coated steel within. Because of the curtain walls frac-
north and east, is outfitted in precast- tubes. These steel frames, bolted to the tured imagery, the facade conveys a notion
concrete panels faced in black brick with edge of each floor slab, form megaunits, of individuality and specificity, resisting
smaller punched-window openings. ranging from 11 to 16 feet (3.4 to 4.9 meters) the tendency toward uniformity.
From a distance, the glass curtain wall tall and up to 37 feet (11.3 meters) wide,
looks like a thin reflective membrane, each holding numerous glass panels

1
Rendering of west
elevation

2
Reinforced-concrete
structure under
construction
1
100 Eleventh Avenue 247

3
Shifting reflections
over the course of
one day

4
Interior rendering of
steel and aluminum
curtain wall framing
with angled
insulating glass

4
Part III: Case Studies 248

5
Partial elevation

17' (5.18 m)

6
Plan
100 Eleventh Avenue 249

C F
B

A
12' (3.66 m)

7
Section A Laminated insulating D Extruded-aluminum
glass with low-E horizontal mullion
coating
E Adjustable shades
B Extruded-aluminum
F Finished floor
glazing adapter on
on reinforced-
steel tube unit frame
concrete slab
C Steel curtain wall
anchor and fire-safe
insulation at slab edge
Case Study 250
Case Study 251

166 Perry Street Curtain Wall

Custom unit system featuring vertical
and sloped low-E coated insulating

New York, NY
glass supported in unit frames of
extruded aluminum

Program

United States
Residential condominiums

Architect
Asymptote

Client
Perry Street Development Corporation

Facade Consultants
Design phase: Front; Construction phase:
Heitmann and Associates

Structural Engineer
Robert Silman Associates

MEP Engineer
Forum Engineering

Energy Model Consultant

Kinetix

Completion Date
2009
Part III: Case Studies 252

Sited next to Richard Meiers iconic 173 color throughout the day and presenting each floor slab. The slabs cantilever
and 176 Perry Street towers located near a collagelike assemblage of contextual beyond the structural frame, allowing for
the Hudson River waterfront in Manhattans imagery. The primary focus of the building uninterrupted vision glass from floor to
West Village, 166 Perry Street provides an envelope design is thus a celebration of floor, without spandrel panels. The custom-
alternate take on the glass-clad residential access to light, air, and viewsprecious designed unit frames consist of extruded-
building. Here, the glass wall is not a con- commodities in any Manhattan residence. aluminum mullions, to which insulating
tinuously flat, vertical surface; the curtain Illustrative of the ongoing globalization glass is structurally glazed with silicone
wall angles variably inward and outward of the facade industry, 166 Perry Streets sealant. Out-swinging operable windows
in vertically articulated bands. Due to the curtain wall units were assembled and are provided within most of the curtain
specification of a slightly reflective low-E tested in Shanghai, China, with finished wall units for natural ventilation.
coating on the glass and the angled posi- prefabricated units then shipped to the
tioning of the units, the curtain wall reflects construction site, where they were installed
both sky and ground conditions, changing on premounted anchors at the edge of

1
Mock-up of cur-
tain wall units

2
Installation of
curtain wall units

2
166 Perry Street 253

3
Rendering of faceted
curtain wall units

4
Rendered exterior
view at midday

5
Rendered exterior
view at dusk

4 5
Part III: Case Studies 254

6
Partial elevation

5' (1.52 m) 8' (2.44 m)

7
Plan
166 Perry Street 255

13' (3.96 m)

8
Section A Laminated insulat- D Fire-safe insulation
ing glass with low-E
E Finished floor on
coating
concrete deck
B Extruded-aluminum
F Adjustable shade
unit frame

C Out-swinging operable
window
Acknowledgments

The research that resulted in this book was supported by grants from the Graham
Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and a Creative Research Award from
the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
I am grateful for the encouragement of colleagues in the School of Architecture at
the University of Illinois, including Director David Chasco, Botond Bognar, and Jeff Poss.
I am also thankful for the enthusiasm and insight of the numerous graduate students
that participated in my curtain wall seminar at the University of Illinois over the past several
years. And, while Im at it, I will take this opportunity to thank a few teachers who were
particularly important figures in my own architectural education: Sheila Kennedy, Leslie
Gill, and Alejandro Lapunzina.
Much of my knowledge of curtain walls in contemporary architecture was gained
through years of professional practice and collaborative work with fellow architects and
engineers. My time with the firm of R.A. Heintges & Associates, in New York City, was
especially enlightening in this regard, due in large part to Robert Heintges, John Pachuta,
Katherine Miller, Piergiorgio Pesarin, and Aulikki Sonntag, among many other important
mentors and friends.
This book is dedicated to Sharon and Ken Murray, with gratitude for a lifetime of
encouragement and support.

Scott Murray
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Schaal, Rolf. Curtain Walls: Design Manual. of Double Facades for Office Buildings in
Translated by Thomas E. Burton. New York: Cool Humid Climates. Journal of Building
Reinhold, 1962. Originally published as Enclosure Design (Winter 2007): 4852.
Vorhangwande in 1961. Stuart, John, trans. The Gray Cloth: Paul
Schaffer, Kristen. Daniel H. Burnham: Visionary Scheerbarts Novel on Glass Architecture.
Architect and Planner. Edited by Scott J. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001.
Tilden. New York: Rizzoli, 2003.
Illustration Credits

Frontmatter Essay 3 Part II

p. 2: photograph Corinne Rose 3.1, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs p. 65: both photographs Scott Murray.
Division, HABS NY, 31-NEYO, 151-1; 3.2,
Part I drawing by Jason Wheeler; 3.3, originally Essay 5
p. 9, clockwise from top left: originally published in Architectural Forum, November 5.15.3, photographs Scott Murray; 5.4,
published in Architectural Record, January- 1950, reprinted courtesy of General Bronze; drawing by Jason Wheeler; 5.5, photograph
March, 1895, 305; photograph Artists Rights 3.43.5, drawings by Scott Murray; 3.63.7, Scott Murray; 5.6, drawing by Jason Wheeler;
Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris/FLC; photographs Nelson Kon; 3.8, Library of 5.75.15, all photographs Scott Murray and
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Congress, Gottscho-Schleisner Collection; 3.9, all drawings by Scott Murray.
Division, HABS NY, 31-NEYO, 151-1; drawing by Jason Wheeler; 3.103.11, drawings
photograph Scott Murray. by Scott Murray; 3.12, photograph by Ezra Essay 6
Stoller Esto; 3.13, drawing by Jason Wheeler; 6.1, diagram adapted by Scott Murray, from
Essay 1 3.14, Library of Congress, Gottscho-Schleisner James Marston Fitch, American Building:
1.1, originally published in Architectural Collection; 3.153.29, all drawings by Scott The Environmental Forces That Shape It;
Record, JanuaryMarch, 1895, 305; 1.2, Library Murray, all photographs Scott Murray; 3.30, 6.26.3, drawing and chart by Scott Murray;
of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, RIBA Library Photographs Collection; 3.31, 6.4, image produced using THERM software
HABS ILL, 16-CHIG, 23-1; 1.31.4, photograph drawings by Jason Wheeler; 3.32, Library of from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory;
Scott Murray; 1.5, Library of Congress, Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS 6.5, photograph Scott Murray.
Prints & Photographs Division, HABS ILL, MASS, 9-CAMB, 69-3; 3.33, photograph
16-CHIG, 66-1; 1.6, photograph Chicago Scott Murray; 3.343.35, photographs courtesy Part III
Architectural Photographing Company; 1.7, Perkins+Will; 3.363.37, drawings by Jason pp. 8485: all images courtesy the architects.
drawings by Jason Wheeler; 1.8, photograph Wheeler; 3.38, photograph by Ezra Stoller
Scott Murray; 1.9, Library of Congress, Prints & Esto; 3.393.40, photographs Scott Murray. The New 42nd Street Studios
Photographs Division, HABS ILL, 16-CHIG, 30-2; p. 86, photograph Scott Murray; p. 87,
1.101.12, drawings by Jason Wheeler; 1.13, Essay 4 drawing courtesy Platt Byard Dovell White;
photograph Scott Murray; 1.14, drawings 4.14.4, photographs Scott Murray and figures 1 2, courtesy the architects; 34,
by Jason Wheeler; 1.15, Historic Architecture drawing by Scott Murray; 4.54.6, photographs photographs Scott Murray; 57, drawings by
and Landscape Image Collection, Ryerson and Josh Wood; 4.7, photograph Alastair Scott Murray based on information provided by
Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago, Hunter/RIBA Library Photographs Collection; the architects; 8, courtesy the architects; 910,
Reproduction The Art Institute of Chicago; 4.8, photograph John Donat/RIBA Library photographs Scott Murray; 11, photograph
1.16, RIBA Library Photographs Collection; 1.17, Photographs Collection; 4.9, photograph Dennis Gilbert/View/Esto.
RIBA Library Photographs Collection; 1.18, Scott Murray; 4.10, drawings by Scott Murray;
photograph Botond Bognar; 1.19, Kansas 4.114.12, photographs Barbara Elliott Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall
Collection, Spencer Research Library, University Martin; 4.134.14, drawings by Jason Wheeler; p. 94, photograph Scott Murray; p. 95,
of Kansas Libraries; 1.20, Library of Congress, 4.154.18, photographs Scott Murray; 4.19, drawing courtesy KieranTimberlake Associates;
Prints & Photographs Division, HABS CAL, 38- Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs figures 12, photographs Scott Murray; 3,
SANFRA, 149-1; 1.21, drawing by Scott Murray; Division, HABS WIS, 51-RACI, 5-6; 4.204.26, photograph KieranTimberlake Associates;
1.22, photograph Botond Bognar. all photographs Scott Murray and drawings 4, photograph Scott Murray; 5, drawings
by Scott Murray; 4.274.28, photographs courtesy the architects; 68, drawings by Scott
Essay 2 Botond Bognar. Murray based on information provided by the
2.1, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ architects.
ADAGP, Paris/FLC; 2.22.3, Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
Digital Image The Museum of Modern Art/
Licensed by Scala/Art Resource, NY.
Illustration Credits 263

the architects.
One Omotesando Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and
p. 100, photograph Botond Bognar; p. 101, Biomolecular Research Trutec Building
drawing courtesy Kengo Kuma and Associates; p. 132, photograph by Tom Arban; p. 132 and p.168, photograph Corinne Rose; p.169
figure 1, photograph Kengo Kuma and figure 1, drawings courtesy architectsAlliance and figures 12, drawings courtesy Barkow
Associates; 2, photograph Botond Bognar; and Behnisch Architekten; 25, photographs Leibinger Architekten; 3, photograph Amy
3, drawings courtesy the architects; by Tom Arban; 68, drawings by Scott Murray Barkow/Barkow Photo; 46, drawings by Scott
4, photograph Kengo Kuma and Associates; based on information provided by the Murray based on information provided by
57, drawings by Scott Murray based on architects; 9, photograph by Tom Arban. the architects; 7, photograph Corinne Rose;
information provided by the architects. 8, photograph Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo;
Torre Agbar 9, photograph Corinne Rose; 1011,
William J. Clinton Presidential Center p. 140, photograph Dennis Gilbert/View/ photographs Amy Barkow/Barkow Photo.
p. 106, photograph Scott Murray; p. 107, Esto; p.141 and figure 1, drawings courtesy
drawing courtesy Polshek Partnership Ateliers Jean Nouvel; 2, photograph Scott Biomedical Science Research Building
Architects; figures 12, courtesy the architects; Murray; 3, diagram courtesy the architect; 4, p. 176, photograph Scott Murray; p. 177 and
35, photographs Scott Murray; 68, photograph Philippe Ruault; 5, photograph figure 1, drawings courtesy Polshek Partnership
drawings by Scott Murray based on information Scott Murray; 68, drawings by Scott Murray Architects; 2, photograph Aislinn Weidele/
provided by the architects. based on information provided by the Polshek Partnership LLP; 34, photographs
architects; 9, photograph Philippe Ruault; 10, Scott Murray; 57, drawings by Scott Murray
Green-Wood Mausoleum photograph Scott Murray; 11, photograph based on information provided by the
p. 112, photograph Scott Murray; p. 113, Hector Milla; 12, photograph Scott Murray. architects; 8, drawing courtesy the architects;
drawing courtesy Platt Byard Dovell White; 9, photograph Scott Murray.
figures 13, photographs Scott Murray; Torre Cube
4, drawing courtesy the architects; 57, p.148, photograph Scott Murray; p.149 and ATLAS Building
drawings by Scott Murray based on information figures 12, drawings courtesy Estudio Carme p.184, photograph Scott Murray; p.185,
provided by the architects. Pins; 34, photographs Scott Murray; 5, drawing courtesy Rafael Violy Architects; figure
photographs Estudio Carme Pins; 68, 1, photograph Scott Murray; 2, photograph
LVMH Osaka drawings by Scott Murray based on information Luuk Kramer; 34, photographs Scott
p.118, photograph Botond Bognar; p. 119 provided by the architects. Murray; 57, drawings by Scott Murray based
and figures 12, drawings courtesy Kengo Kuma on information provided by the architects.
and Associates; 34, photographs Kengo Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision
Kuma and Associates; 57, drawings by Scott p. 154, photograph Scott Murray; p.155 and Blue Tower
Murray based on information provided by the figure 1, drawings courtesy Neutelings Riedijk p. 190, photograph Scott Murray; p. 191 and
architect; 8, photograph Kengo Kuma and Architecten; 24, photographs Scott Murray; figure 1, drawings courtesy Bernard Tschumi
Associates; 910, photographs Botond Bognar. 57, drawings by Scott Murray based on Architects; 2, photograph Joseph O. Holmes;
information provided by the architects; 810, 34, photographs Scott Murray; 57, drawings
Seattle Public Library photographs Scott Murray. by Scott Murray based on information provided
p. 126, photograph Scott Murray; p. 127 by the architects; 8, drawing courtesy the
and figures 12, drawing courtesy Office for Skirkanich Hall architects; 9, photograph Nat Ward.
Metropolitan Architects and LMN Architects; p.162, photograph Scott Murray; p.163
3, photograph Lara Swimmer/Esto; 46, and figure 1, drawings courtesy Tod Williams
photographs Scott Murray; 79, drawings Billie Tsien Architects; 2, photograph Scott
by Scott Murray based on information Murray; 3, photograph courtesy the architects;
provided by the architects. 4, photograph Scott Murray; 5, photograph
Michael Moran; 68, drawings by Scott
Murray based on information provided by
Illustration Credits 264

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Yale Sculpture Building

p. 198, photograph Michael Robinson/Esto; p. 230, photograph Scott Murray; p. 231,
p. 199, drawing courtesy Steven Holl drawing courtesy KieranTimberlake Associates;
Architects; figure 1, photograph Scott Murray; figures 12, photograph Enzo Figueres; 34,
23, photographs Steven Holl Architects, photograph Scott Murray; 57, drawings by
courtesy Chris McVoy; 46, drawings by Scott Scott Murray based on information provided by
Murray based on information provided by the the architects.
architects; 7, drawing courtesy the architects;
810, photographs Scott Murray. Cathedral of Christ the Light
p. 236, photograph Scott Murray; p. 237,
The New York Times Building drawing courtesy Skidmore, Owings and
p. 206, photograph Scott Murray; p. 207 Merrill; figure 14, photograph Scott Murray;
and figure 1, courtesy Renzo Piano Building 57, drawings by Scott Murray based on
Workshop and FXFOWLE Architects; information provided by the architects;
2, photograph David Sundberg/Esto; 8, drawing courtesy the architects; 911,
3, photograph Scott Murray; 4, photograph photograph Scott Murray; 12, rendering
Nic Lehoux; 57, drawings by Scott Murray courtesy the architects.
based on information provided by the
architects; 8, photograph David Sundberg/ 100 Eleventh Avenue
Esto; 9, photograph Scott Murray. p. 244, image dbox/Ateliers Jean Nouvel;
p. 245, drawing courtesy Ateliers Jean Nouvel;
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies figure 1, image dbox/Ateliers Jean Nouvel;
p. 214, photograph by William Zbaren 2, photograph Scott Murray; 34, image
Krueck + Sexton Architects; p. 215 and figure Ateliers Jean Nouvel; 57, drawings by
1, drawings by Krueck + Sexton Architects; Scott Murray based on information provided
2, photograph by William Zbaren Krueck + by the architects.
Sexton Architects; 35, photographs Scott
Murray; 68, drawings by Scott Murray based 166 Perry Street
on information provided by the architects; p. 250, image ArchPartners/courtesy
9, William Zbaren Krueck + Sexton Asymptote; p. 254, drawing Asymptote;
Architects; 1012, courtesy the architects. figure 1, photograph Asymptote; 2,
photograph Scott Murray; 35, image
United States Federal Building ArchPartners/courtesy Asymptote;
p. 222, photograph Scott Murray; 68, drawings by Scott Murray based on
p. 223, drawing courtesy Morphosis; figure 1, information provided by the architects.
photograph Tim Griffith/Esto; 23,
photographs Scott Murray; 46, drawings
by Scott Murray based on information
provided by the architects; 79, photographs
Scott Murray; 10, photograph by
Steve Proehl Morphosis.