quadrangle, in architecture, rectangular open space completely or partially enclosed by buildings of an academic or civic character. The grounds of a quadrangle are often grassy or landscaped. Such a quadrangular area, intended as an environment for contemplation, study, or relaxation, was a feature of monastic establishments and thus of the colleges that evolved from them. The term is also used to describe the building or building complex that contains a quadrangular area.
The most celebrated quadrangles, extensively imitated in university and college architecture in English-speaking countries, are those of Oxford and Cambridge, in Great Britain. The buildings of New College, Oxford (1380–86), are connected to form a unified mass. This layout was enormously influential in subsequent collegiate building. One of the best-known quadrangles is that of Gonville and Caius, Cambridge (begun 1565), built by John Caius partly to display the new Renaissance architecture he had seen while journeying in Italy. He created an allegorical “progress” in the quadrangle: one passed in succession through the Gate of Humility, the Gate of Virtue, and finally the Gate of Honour, which led toward the schools, where degrees are conferred.