In architecture, the false front (also false facade, flying facade, screen wall) is a façade designed to disguise the true characteristics of a building, usually to beautify it.^[1][2][3] The architectural design and purposes of these wall-like^[4] features vary:

• making a building appear larger, more important, and better-built, like in the Western false front architecture,^[5] German Blendfassaden [de] (lit. 'blind facades') or Brick Gothic main facades (Schaufassaden, lit. 'show facades'). Some sources also use the term screen facade when discussing the Medieval and Renaissance churches,^[6][7] not to be confused with the modern "membrane" screen facade;
• creating a fake appearance to improve aesthetics, an architectural equivalent of trompe-l'oeil;^[8]
• in facadism, keeping the old facades with the goal of preserving the visual character of a historical neighborhood while allowing an entirely modern design of the actual buildings. In the view of preservationists, this creates a "Disneyland of false fronts"; ^[9]
• deliberate violation of the truth to materials principle ("false in material")^[5] for economical, insulation, or aesthetic purposes, like masonry veneer using a non-structural outer layer of stone^[10] or a membrane screen facade;
• hiding a gable roof, like a tall parapet wall;^[11]
• a purely decorative way to increase height, like the one of a roof comb, a flat structure that tops buildings in Mesoamerican architecture. Sometimes the comb was shifted from the center of the roof to one of the walls, forming a flying facade.^[12]

Tradition of "show facades" goes back to the very beginnings of the architecture, when the simplest buildings might have just one opening serving both as a door and a window. The special role of the wall with this opening was stressed through articulation and decoration.^[13]

Outside of architecture, "false front" is used to describe a deceptive outward appearance in general,^[14] false hair in front (like bangs).^[15]

This section is an excerpt from Facadism.[edit]

Facadism, façadism (also pejorative facadectomy, façadomy^[16])^[17] is the architectural and construction practice where the facade of a building is designed or constructed separately from the rest of a building, or when only the facade of a building is preserved with new buildings erected behind or around it.

There are aesthetic and historical reasons for preserving building facades. Facadism can be the response to the interiors of a building becoming unusable, such as being damaged by fire. In developing areas, however, the practice is sometimes used by property developers seeking to redevelop a site as a compromise with preservationists who wish to preserve buildings of historical or aesthetic interest. It can be regarded as a compromise between historic preservation and demolition and thus has been lauded as well as decried.^{[citation needed]}

In the Brick Gothic,^{[citation needed]} the Schaufassaden (lit. 'show facades',^[18] display facades), the facades facing the main street, were richly decorated and frequently concealed the cross-section structure of the building.^[19]

This section is an excerpt from Western false front architecture.[edit]

Western false front architecture or false front commercial architecture is a type of commercial architecture used in the Old West of the United States. Often used on two-story buildings, the style includes a false front facade often hiding a gable roof.

The goal for buildings in this style is to project an image of stability and success, while in fact a business owner may not have invested much in a building that might be temporary. By emulating the rectangular profile of buildings in eastern North American cities, the style attempted to lend a more settled, urban feel to small frontier towns.^[20]

• the front façade of the building "rises to form a parapet (upper wall) which hides most or nearly all of the roof"
• the roof "is almost always a front gable, though gambrel and bowed roofs are occasionally found"
• "a better grade of materials is often used on the façade than on the sides or rear of the building" and
• "the façade exhibits greater ornamentation than do the other sides of the building."^[21]

• Fake building, an urban-building-like shell housing unsightly machinery
• Westwork, a structural element that also presents a show facade
• Rood screen and iconostasis, internal decorative walls in church
• Stepped gable, Dutch gable, and clock gable, designs at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building projecting above the roofline
• Bell-gable, a wall extension in the church in lieue of the bell tower
• Potemkin village, the use of structures to make the grim reality appear better
• Cladding (construction), a thin layer of material used primarily for better weather resistance, but also for thermal insulation and appearance
  • Stone veneer, cladding using a thin layer of stone
  • Formstone, a type of stucco imitating stone
• Harvard brick, a technique for building brick facades in imitation of much older ones
• Rustication (architecture), a range of masonry techniques contrasting with smooth ashlar