Recently there has been a lot of interest in the perforated facades of buildings, worldwide. However, drilling in the building envelope is not a new place in architectural design, on the contrary, its roots are found in buildings of previous centuries. In fact, the intense interest observed in recent decades has arisen from new technologies, new materials and new design and construction methods that are gradually appearing and evolving in the field of architecture. The present research work studies, in chronological order, the evolution of the perforation found in the skins of buildings, while analyzing the basic characteristics, the uses and morphology of the perforations over the years. Initially, a presentation is made of the first forms of perforation in buildings, with an analysis of their functions. Next, concepts such as patterns, new ways of design and production are analyzed, as well as how they influenced the evolution of perforated faces. Finally, using international literature and giving examples, an analysis and comparison of some of today's perforated buildings with the first forms of perforation, that were previously analyzed, leads to conclusions about the characteristics that were altered or preserved over the years.