ABSTRACT
In the broadest definition, a curtain wall is any nonbearing exterior wall system attached to, or hung on, a building’s exterior structural frame. It supports itself and resists external forces, such as wind or seismic loads, but is independent of the primary structural system of the building. This type of wall is usually made up of a series of framing elements, most often aluminum, infilled with a combination of glass, metal, or stone panels. These elements are then anchored back to the building’s structural system. This construction method was invented in the late nineteenth century, when advances in the mass production of iron, and later steel, eliminated the need for heavy load-bearing facades, which until that point had been required as an integral part of the building’s overall structural system.
