Patte d'oie

The French term patte d'oie (literally "goose foot", in English sometimes referred to as a "crow's foot"[1]) describes a design whereby three, four, or five or more straight roads or paths radiate out from a central point, so called from its resemblance to a goose's foot.

[3] The idea for the patte d'oie may have originated in town planning schemes where roads converged onto a single space or feature, such as the Piazza del Popolo in Rome.

[4] It is often a feature of site plans for the grander French châteaux of the 17th and 18th centuries, in which the roads converge on an important element of the central axis.

The château of Richelieu had three roads converging on a 300-ft. circle directly in front of the entrance gate.

[5] Vaux and Versailles each had designs for two pattes d'oie, one focused on the entrance forecourt, and the other, on a far part of the garden.