Symbolic connection to encompassing domains

The combination of elements in any design calls for some symbolic forms of reduction in completing the highest level, partly in order to identify the design and give it form.

There are few cases in traditional architecture where builders have not used some roof detail to cap the building with an ornament. The cap may be structural, but its main function is decorative. It marks the top, the place where the roof penetrates the sky. ("Topping out" ceremonies continue to be a feature of major modern buildings.)