The 1968 Integrated Facade System by Josef Gartner

In 1968, the company Josef Gartner & Co. was granted the patent for an “external building wall with water-filled hollow steel columns”. This patent defines the principle behind the Integrated Facade System, which conflates the supporting structure, building envelope and building services. Hollow steel columns are connected to the water heating and cooling system. For the first time, the new system was presented as a prototype pavilion at the “BAU 68” international trade fair in Munich. Translocated to Gundelfingen soon after, it has since survived as a gatehouse to the factory premises. The Integrated Facade System has since been applied to numerous objects, not least icons of late 20^th century architecture. However, the integration of building services and the building envelope, once a mark of technological achievement, poses serious challenges for maintenance and repair.