Architecture expert Li Chien-lang says that the occupation period, immediately following the Meiji Restoration, was a time in which the focus of society was not only on economic development but also on culture. The designers took inspiration from the late-Renaissance rebirth of the Greek Doric order of architecture, with the design marked by rounded tops and domes, triangular peaks, and decorative columns.
建築學者李乾朗表示，日本人治台期間，正是明治維新之後，除了很重視政經發展外，也相當重視文化，台博館採歐洲後期文藝復興的古希臘「多力克式」建築風格，其建築特點為：圓頂、三角山頭及柱飾。