The curtain wall—a non-bearing wall attached to a building's structural frame like a curtain made of metal or, more likely glass—is an omnipresent feature of contemporary architecture. Variations of pattern and color, transparency and opacity offer the architect almost limitless design possibilities, a tremendous palette for "skinning" the structural frame of buildings from museums to skyscrapers.There are few practitioners of curtain wall design as accomplished as Cesar Pelli & Associates, and this book presents twenty of their most exemplary projects. Arranged by material—glass, metal, stone—the conception and development of each individual facade is revealed and construction details comprehensively documented through numerous drawings. Any practicing architect interested in state-of-the-art curtain wall design will need to own this indispensable and inspiring book.