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Why was the Shanghai Museum building designed with a round top and square base?
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Shanghai
Skyline of Shanghai, China.
The building housing the Shanghai Museum was designed with a round top and a square base to symbolize the ancient Chinese concept of tianyuan difang, which translates to "round sky, square earth."1
This architectural symbolism reflects a traditional belief system also seen in other significant structures, such as the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, where the layout and design elements are used to represent the relationship between heaven and earth.12