Abstract One of the most important design criteria for high rise structures is its shape because it provides the outer size, outlook as well as orientation of the building. As the height of the structure increases, the impacts of lateral loading become higher. To resist the lateral loads, we need to bring out alternative procedure which may help us to reduce this effects so that we can build safe and sound tall buildings. The shape of the structure usually comes from its floor orientation and size. Based on this consideration, this study focuses on the responses by analyzing the effects of the lateral loads specially earthquake on two 20 storied high rise structures, one with square floor shape and another with circular floor, having similar floor areas with edge supported floor systems. The study reveals that circular shape is the preferable floor area as it can resist more storey shears and overturning moments compared to square shape though circular shape structure is found less stiff than square shape structure.