Coupled column

[1] The coupled columns should be of the same order and set closer enough to almost touch each other at their bases and capitals.

[2] In a colonnade, all columns may be coupled or just the outer pairs.

[3] Сoupled columns are often installed at the building entrance, on both sides of a window, fireplace, niche, or stair.

The coupling of classical columns was both a recurring motif in French classical architecture and a matter of controversy in structural and aesthetic theory.

Quatremère de Quincy described the paired columns as a "fault" and a first step to vice (1788).