From Blunder To Boon

When a building project goes wrong, the construction often becomes a pillar of shame on the engineers. But some examples survive for centuries and, with time, become remarkable tourist attractions. The best known architectural miscalculation is the 845-year-old Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, this tower is not alone: China, for example, has the flawed Yunyan pagoda, and Germany has a couple of very lopsided church towers. Common to the historic sloppiness is that the weight of the buildings is too high and placed on insufficient foundations.