Recent years have seen a rapidly growing interest among contemporary architects in the use of curtain walls to create innovative, attention-grabbing building facades. With new concerns about the environment and affordable envelopes, the curtain wall represents a microcosm of issues important to architecture: climate responsiveness and energy use, intelligent utilization of resources, and advancements in digital design and fabrication. In Contemporary Curtain Wall Architecture, architect and building technology expert Scott Murray presents an exhaustive taxonomy of the materials and techniques necessary for the design, fabrication, and installation of today's curtain wall systems. Murray presents a history of curtain wall design from the early skeleton-frame structures of the late-nineteenth century to the complex configurations of mullions, infill panels, and adhesives of today.

Contemporary Curtain Wall Architecture features detailed analyses of contemporary projects by leading architects and engineers, including the Blue Tower by Bernard Tschumi Architects; the Yale Sculpture Building by KieranTimberlake Associates; 100 Eleventh Avenue by Ateliers Jean Nouvel; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art by Steven Holl Architects; the Atlas Building by Rafael Vinoly; the New York Times Building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and FXFOWLE Architects; One Omotesando by Kengo Kuma and Associates; and the Seattle Public Library by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and LMN Architects. Each cutting-edge project is documented through detailed drawings, color photography, and insightful descriptions of the aesthetic and technical considerations that make these projects best-case examples of curtain wall technology.