The builders clearly had an off day when they designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here's why strong foundations are the key to any successful venture.
Italy has some stunning buildings — St Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum in Rome, The Duomo in Florence, the entire city of Venice…. But there's one Italian building that didn't quite work out as planned — the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The famously crooked Tower took two centuries to build, and — at its worst — ended up leaning by 5.5 degrees (which is basically on the verge of toppling over). In fact, the only reason that the Tower still stands tall today, is because there's a constant effort put into keeping it up.
But, if anything, the Tower's poor planning has probably made it more famous than any other Italian landmark — and given it a fascinating history to boot.
For example, did you know that the Leaning Tower of Pisa used to lean in a different direction? It actually used to lean north, but started to lean south in 1272, after the building work got past the third floor.
And were you aware that Mussolini — the infamous Italian dictator — tried to straighten the Tower in 1934 by pouring tonnes of grout into its base? But instead of remedying the tilt, his plan backfired, with the extra weight making the tower lean even further.
Here's the terrifying part: the Tower could still topple over… but, it should be OK for the next 200 years or so. Phew.
The lesson here, is to think carefully about how you build your foundations. If the engineers in charge had designed a proper base — one that'd allow a tower to be built on sand, clay and river deposits — then none of these problems would've occurred.
Unlike the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we take care in building the foundations of our working relationships. And we do it by working hard to understand your needs. Using research, meetings and by drawing on our experience in the sector, we get to know your business and its unique requirements. That way we have the foundations on which we can build a service that works for you.
Lean on us — and we'll build you a service that won't fall down, no matter how high you reach.
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