Anarcade is a succession of contiguousarches, with each arch supported by acolonnade ofcolumns orpiers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians; they include manyloggias, but here arches are not an essential element. An arcade may feature arches on both sides of the walkway. Alternatively, ablind arcade superimposes arcading against a solid wall.[1]
Blind arcades are a feature ofRomanesque architecture that influencedGothic architecture. In the Gothic architectural tradition, the arcade can be located in the interior, in the lowest part of the wall of thenave, supporting thetriforium and theclerestory in acathedral,[2] or on the exterior, in which they are usually part of the walkways that surround thecourtyard andcloisters.
A different, related meaning is "a covered passage with shops on one or both sides".[3] Many medieval open arcades housed shops or stalls, either in the arcaded space itself, or set into the main wall behind. From this, "arcade" has become a general word for a group of shops in a single building, regardless of thearchitectural form.
Arcades of the Colosseum (AD 70s) from the outside
...and in cross-section
Arcades inside theMosque of Uqba, also known as the Great Mosque ofKairouan, inTunisia (670). There is novaulting; the arches are bridged by wooden beams
These arcadesin Córdoba were begun in the 780s; Some are topped by beams, others bybarrel vaults.
The French architect, Bertrand Lemoine, described the period, 1786 to 1935, asl’Ère des passages couverts (the Arcade Era).[7] He was referring to the grand shopping "arcades" that flourished across Europe during that period. A shopping arcade refers to a multiple-vendor space, operating under a covered roof. Typically, the roof was constructed of glass to allow for natural light and to reduce the need for candles or electric lighting.[8] The 18th and 19th century arcades were designed to attract the genteel middle classes. In time, these arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. Arcades offered shoppers the promise of an enclosed space away from the chaos that characterised the noisy, dirty streets; a warm, dry space away from the harsh elements, and a safe haven where people could socialise and spend their leisure time. As thousands of glass covered arcades spread across Europe, they became grander and more ornately decorated. By the mid-nineteenth century, they had become prominent centres of fashion and social life. Promenading in these arcades became a popular nineteenth-century pastime for the emerging middle classes.[9]
The inspiration for the grand shopping arcades may have derived from the fashionable openloggias of Florence however medieval vernacular examples known as 'butterwalks' were traditional jettiedcolonnades in British and North European marketplaces; examples remain for example inTotnes andDartmouth inDevon. During the 16th-century, a pattern of market trading using mobile stalls under covered arcades was established in Florence, from where it spread throughout Italy. Examples of the earliest openloggias include:Mercato Nuovo (1547) by Giovanni Battista del Tasso (and funded by theMedici family); Mercato Vecchio, Florence byGiorgio Vasari (1567) andLoggia del Grano (1619) byGiulio Parigi.[10]
Arcades soon spread across Europe, North America and the antipodes. Examples of these grand shopping arcades include:Palais Royal in Paris (opened in 1784); Passage de Feydeau in Paris (opened in 1791); London'sPiccadilly Arcade (1810) and Milan'sGalleria Vittorio Emanuele (1878).[11] Some examples of arcades in North America include New York'sPaddock Arcade (1850), Ohio'sDayton Arcade (1904),[12] and Rhode Island'sWestminster Arcade (1828). Other notable nineteenth century grand arcades include theGaleries Royales Saint-Hubert in Brussels which was inaugurated in 1847 and Istanbul'sÇiçek Pasajı opened in 1870. Shopping arcades were the precursor to the modernshopping mall, and the word "arcade" is now often used for malls which do not use the architectural form at all.[citation needed]
ThePalais-Royal, which opened in 1784 and became one of the most important marketplaces in Paris, is generally regarded as the earliest example of the grand shopping arcades.[8] Originally, a royal palace, the complex consisted of gardens, shops and entertainment venues situated under the original colonnades. The area boasted some 145 boutiques, cafés, salons, hair salons, bookshops, museums, and numerous refreshment kiosks as well as two theatres. The retail outlets specialised inluxury goods such as fine jewellery, furs, paintings and furniture designed to appeal to the wealthy elite. Retailers operating out of the Palais complex were among the first in Europe to abandon the system of bartering, and adopt fixed-prices thereby sparing their clientele the hassle of bartering. Stores were fitted with long glass exterior windows which allowed the emerging middle-classes to window shop and indulge in fantasies, even when they may not have been able to afford the high retail prices. Thus, the Palais-Royal became one of the first examples of a new style of shopping arcade, frequented by both the aristocracy and the middle classes. It developed a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation, revolving around the salons, cafés, and bookshops, but also became a place frequented by off-duty soldiers and was a favourite haunt of prostitutes, many of whom rented apartments in the building.[13]
One of the earliest British examples of a shopping arcade, theCovered Market, Oxford, England was officially opened on 1 November 1774 and is still active today. The Covered Market was started in response to a general wish to clear "untidy, messy and unsavoury stalls" from the main streets of central Oxford.John Gwynn, the architect ofMagdalen Bridge, drew up the plans and designed the High Street front with its four entrances. In 1772, the newly formed Market committee, half of whose members came from the town and half from the university, accepted an estimate of nine hundred and sixteen pounds ten shillings, for the building of twenty butchers' shops. Twenty more soon followed, and after 1773 meat was allowed to be sold only inside the market. From this nucleus the market grew, with stalls for garden produce, pig meat, dairy products and fish.[citation needed]
Gostiny Dvor inSt Petersburg,Russia is another early shopping arcade and remains the largestshopping center in the city. Gostiny Dvor translates intoMerchants' Arcade.[14] Building commenced in 1757 to an elaborate design byBartolomeo Rastrelli, but that subsequently was discarded in favour of a less expensive and more functionalNeoclassical design submitted byJean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe (1729–1800).[citation needed] Throughout the following century, Gostiny Dvor was augmented, resulting in ten indoor streets and as many as 178 shops by the 20th century. During the post-World War II reconstructions, its inner walls were demolished and a huge shopping mall came into being. This massive 18th-century structure got a face-lift recently and entered the 21st century as one of the most fashionable shopping centres inEastern Europe.[15]
An early French arcade is the Passage du Caire created in 1798 as a tribute to theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria. It was appreciated by the public for its protection from the weather, noise and filth of the streets.[16] A year later American architect William Thayer created thePassage des Panoramas with a row of shops passing between twopanorama paintings. Shopping arcades increasingly were built in the secondBourbon Restoration.[17] Upper levels of arcades often contained apartments[18] and sometimesbrothels.[19]
^"arcature".Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. "1. a small arcade (as in a balustrade). 2. a blind arcade, especially one that is decorative rather than structural."
^Lockwood, Luke Vincent (1913).The Furniture Collectors' Glossary. Walpole Society.ARCATURE . — A small arcade formed by a series of little arches. It may be blind or open.
^Lemoine, B.,Les Passages Couverts, Paris: Délégation à l'action artistique de la ville de Paris [AAVP], 1990.ISBN9782905118219.
^abMitchell, I.,Tradition and Innovation in English Retailing, 1700 to 1850, Routledge, Oxon, p. 140
^Byrne-Paquet, L.,The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping, ECW Press, Toronto, Canada, pp. 92–95
^Pevsner, N.,A History of Building Types, Princeton University Press, 1979, p. 235; Goy, R.J.,Florence: A Walking Guide to Its Architecture, Yale University Press, 2015; Codini, E.K. (ed),Architettura a Pisa nel Primo Periodo Mediceo, Gangemi, 2003, p.213
^Sassatelli, R.,Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, Sage, 2007, p. 27; Although the author specifically names Piccadilly Arcade, it is possible that she intendedBurlington Arcade in Piccadilly.
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