Watts Towers

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture

Category Outsider Architecture

Outsider Architecture http://atlasobscura.com/category/architectural-oddities/outsider-architecture

The Watts Towers in the Watts district of Los Angeles, California, are a collection of 17 interconnected structures, two of which reach heights of over 99 feet (30 m). The Towers were built by Italian immigrant construction worker Sabato ("Sam" or "Simon") Rodia in his spare time over a period of 33 years, from 1921 to 1954. The work is a superb example of non-traditional vernacular architecture. The Towers are located near (and visible from) the 103rd Street-Kenneth Hahn Station of the Metro Rail LACMTA Blue Line.

The sculptures' armatures are constructed from steel pipes and rods, wrapped with wire mesh, and coated with mortar. The main supports are embedded with pieces of porcelain, tile, and glass. The work is decorated with found objects: bed frames, bottles, ceramic tiles, scrap metal and sea shells all protrude from the towers. Rodia called the towers Nuestro Pueblo, meaning "our town." Rodia built them with no special equipment or (so far as is known) predetermined design, working alone with hand tools and window-washer's equipment. Neighborhood children (including jazz bassist Charles Mingus) brought pieces of broken glass and pottery to Rodia in hopes they would be added to the project, but the majority of Rodia's material consisted of damaged pieces from the Malibu Pottery, where he worked for many years.

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  • Address 765 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, California, United States
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  • & Anonymous August 11, 2011
    The address listed here appears to be wrong. Correct one is: 1727 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002
  • tralfamadore& tralfamadore June 7, 2010
    By the way, as an added oddity, Charlie Mingus helped out the old guy with building this when he was a kid. Also, if you go, they have a student film that was made about the tower's creator years ago. The music will sound familiar since the film's composer went on to write the theme for the Twilight Zone, which was a re-arrangement of the music he did for that student film.
  • tralfamadore& tralfamadore June 7, 2010
    I've lived in LA for years and never went to the Watts Towers until recently. They're absolutely, undeniably extraordinary.
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