curtain wall

curtain wall
(in a framed building) an exterior wall having no structural function.
[1850-55]

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Nonbearing wall of glass, metal, or masonry attached to a building's exterior structural frame.

After World War II, low energy costs gave impetus to the concept of the tall building as a glass prism, an idea originally put forth by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in their visionary projects of the 1920s. The UN's Secretariat Building (1949), with its green-tinted glass walls, helped set a worldwide standard for skyscrapers.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • curtain wall —    In castles, the surrounding fortified walls. In modern architecture, an outer non load bearing wall, often simply a field of large panes of glass held in place with a lattice of other material, sometimes merely thin metal bands. The modern… …   Glossary of Art Terms

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  • curtain wall — noun 1. : curtain 5 2. : a nonbearing wall between columns or piers that is not supported by the girders or beams of a skeleton frame called also enclosure wall …   Useful english dictionary

  • curtain wall — noun 1》 a fortified wall around a medieval castle, typically one linking towers together. 2》 a wall which encloses the space within a building but does not support the roof …   English new terms dictionary

  • curtain wall — cur′tain wall n. bui (in a framed building) an exterior wall having no structural function • Etymology: 1850–55 …   From formal English to slang

  • curtain wall — noun Date: 1853 a nonbearing exterior wall between columns or piers …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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