text: why did they build  the leaning tower of pisa?   a: a bell tower.  q: why a bell tower?  a: why not? guys, being guys, always want to build towers. in fact, the region around pisa was famous for them. but the best excuse for a tower they could come up with in the 12th century was: we could put bells on it! whereas we 20th-century sophisticates, with our mature grasp of the architectonic possibilities, would be more likely to say: what a great place for a satellite dish.