Spandrels decorated with figures of winged victories, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A spandrel is the roughly triangular space above and on either side of an arch.[1] The wall above the arch, forming the spandrel, is known as the spandrel wall.[2]
In a building with more than one floor, the term spandrel is also used to describe the space between the top of the window in one storey and the sill of the window in the storey above.[3]
References
Bibliography
Ching, Francis D. K. Building Construction Illustrated. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
Curl, James Stevens. “Peristyle.” Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2006, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606789.001.0001/acref-9780198606789-e-3449.
Curl, James Stevens, and Susan Wilson. “Bell-Cote or Bell-Gable.” The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2021, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191918742.001.0001/acref-9780191918742-e-504.