There are the considerations with exterior aesthetics, but it’s also about being able to maximize interior space and meet design criteria. A change in doctrine after Wolf 359 was to leave as small of a target profile/silhouette as possible, so ships started becoming more streamlined. This also lead to ships being able to travel faster because that lead to creating a more efficient warp bubble around the ships.
Out of universe, Roddenberry said the nacelles need to see each other, operated in pairs, and the bussard collectors (glowy red parts in front) need to have unobstructed view so they could collect materials from space.
There are the considerations with exterior aesthetics, but it’s also about being able to maximize interior space and meet design criteria. A change in doctrine after Wolf 359 was to leave as small of a target profile/silhouette as possible, so ships started becoming more streamlined. This also lead to ships being able to travel faster because that lead to creating a more efficient warp bubble around the ships.
Out of universe, Roddenberry said the nacelles need to see each other, operated in pairs, and the bussard collectors (glowy red parts in front) need to have unobstructed view so they could collect materials from space.