Although Facades first appeared on Philip Glass' album Glassworks, it was originally conceived as part of the soundtrack to Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi ("Life out of balance"). The film, a portrait of modern American life without dialogue, was to have contained a scene depicting a deserted New York City; several notable landmarks were seen, all of them eerily empty of people. Facades was written to accompany this sequence, which was eventually cut from the film. Glass' original version of the music, as well as that which appeared on the Glassworks album, was scored for two soprano saxophones and strings. In 1982, flutist/conductor Ransom Wilson recorded Facades in an arrangement that substituted flutes for the saxophones.

Facades takes on a form similar to that of a chaconne; the strings play a single harmonic sequence over and over again as underpinning to various melodic variations. One of the wind players begins in the latter function, but is eventually joined by the other in duet. The first player then continues alone, still with the staid accompaniment of the strings. This process, like the local harmonic sequence, is repeated five times, giving the form a telescopic quality. Glass' characteristic arpeggiated figures and chromatic voice leading are present—though somewhat subdued—throughout Facades, in keeping with the filmic conception of the work.

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