The facade is a system that composed of panels and supporting structures. It has to reach certain specified carrying capacity, deformation capacity and the displacement capacity of main structure, but does not share gravity from the main structure or decorative structure of buildings.

The most important function of façade is carrying capacity from its structure. Then, it comes to decorative function to buildings. Therefore, there are three main features of façade:

1. Façade is a complete structural system that can withstand the effect imposed on it and transfer it to the main structure.

2. Façade system is normally held onto the main structure and it can be movably connected with the main structure. When the main structure shifts, façade can shift with it. Or, it has certain deformation capacity to cope with the shift.

3. Façade doesn’t share the role of main structure in terms of gravity.

Façade is a product of scientific development and it features high buildings in the modern time. Glass façade was the first façade building in the world.

In the 1960s and 1970s, high buildings with façade have been grown rapidly in the western counties. A number of well-known buildings adopted glass facade as the external decorative structure, especially in the US where it was becoming the center of world's architectural facade, such as the Sears Tower in Chicago (110 floors, 443m) and the John Hancock Tower (100 floors, 344m), both of which are framed glass. The rapid economic development in Asia, along the western Pacific coastline and southeast Asian formed another center of high buildings with facade in recent years.