I always wondered if that part of the design was deliberate on the part of the Cardies, any insurrection or security breach in an individual pylon could be contained more easily that way.
When I was young and the series aired I was always more of a fan of seeing the human centric design of something like Babylon 5, so I didn't really appreciate the Cardassian aesthetic as demonstrated in DS9. In later years though I've come to be very fond of the design and the detail put into it. Certainly the contrast to the functional and reliable Federation aesthetic has become more interesting to me as an older and hopefully wiser adult.
Cardassian society, the Federations long running difficult relationship with them and the mirror it held up to 24th Century humanity was one of the best things trek ever gave us, and I include the station in that also.
The Defiant was ace from day one though. I've always been and always will be a total fan boy for that cramped little pancake ship.
