Arcade (architecture)

Characteristics and elements

An arcade is recognized by repeating openings (arches) linked by supports. Typical components include:

• Arches or vaults spanning between vertical supports.
• Columns, piers or buttresses that carry loads.
• A covered walkway, which may be open to one or both sides or fully enclosed.
• Decorative treatments such as mouldings, capitals, or clerestory windows above the arcade.

Depending on style and period, the arch profile and supporting members vary; for information about the arch form itself, see arches.

History and development

Arcades are ancient in origin and appear in Roman architecture as series of arches in aqueducts, bridges and colonnaded streets. During the medieval and Renaissance periods arcades became prominent in cloisters, marketplaces and façades. In later urban design they were adapted as covered shopping passages and promenades, combining practical shelter with public circulation and display.

Uses, examples and importance

Arcades serve multiple functions: they provide sheltered pedestrian routes, define commercial frontages, and modulate light at building entries. Common examples include cloister walks in religious complexes, the ground-floor arcades of civic buildings, and long colonnades that line a plaza or lead towards a street or square. An arcade can shape how people move through an urban block and create transitional space between interior and exterior; the relationship to the adjoining street or route is often deliberate and formalized in city plans—see typical approaches towards a place or a street.

Distinctions and notable facts

The architectural arcade differs from other repetitive gallery types such as colonnades (which emphasize columns rather than arches) and arcades in commercial culture (a term later used for shopping alleys and, in modern times, video game arcades). Structurally, an arcade can be load-bearing or purely aesthetic when carried on slender supports. Historically it has been both a pragmatic way to span space and a motif used to articulate façades.