A bracket is an architectural element: a structural or decorative member. They can be made of wood, stone, or metal — that projects from a wall, usually to carry weight and sometimes to "...strengthen an angle". A corbel and console are types of brackets.
Brackets can support many architectural items, including a wall, balcony, parapets, eaves, the spring of an arch, beams, pergola roof, window box, or a shelf.
In adjustable shelving systems, the bracket may be in two parts, with the load-bearing horizontal support fitting into a wall-mounted slotted vertical metal strip.
Brackets also are an element in the systems used to mount modern facade cladding systems onto the outside of contemporary buildings, as well as interior panels.
Brackets are often in the form of architectural sculptures with reliefs of objects and scrolls. Depending on their material, decorated ones can be can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be of cast stone or resin-foam materials with faux finishes for use on new buildings in historic revival styles of architecture.
Some brackets and corbels are only ornamental, and serve no actual supporting purpose.
Balcony (from Italian: balcone, scaffold; cf. Old High German balcho, beam, balk; probably cognate with Persian term بالكانه bālkāneh or its older variant پالكانه pālkāneh), a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.