Watts Towers in Los Angeles is a series of interconnected structures built by Sabato Rodia, covered in mosaics and ornate decorations. The site is now a cultural landmark, maintained by the California Parks Department and open to visitors. Despite being initially unpopular, the towers were eventually restored and are now a popular tourist attraction.
Watts Towers are a series of interconnected structures in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. These structures have become world-renowned and are one of the few works of folk art that have been accepted into the US National Register of Historic Places. Today, the site is maintained by the California Parks Department and is open to all visitors who wish to view it.
Several things about Watts Towers are distinctive and noteworthy. The first is the sheer scale of the project; there are 17 structures, many of which are nearly 100 meters tall. The structures are covered in mosaics and ornate decorations, representing thousands of hours of work, and were built entirely by one man, Sabato Rodia, in his spare time. Many visitors to the towers are also amazed to learn that they were built by hand, without the assistance of heavy machinery or other equipment.
Sabato Rodia began construction of Watts Towers in 1921. The Italian immigrant said he “wanted to do something big” so he kept at it, bending the rebar into shape to create the skeletons of the towers and then capping them in salvaged metal and other found objects before applying a layer of mortar to support its intricate mosaics. He finished construction in 1954, and by the time he was finished, Watts Towers was covered in discarded china, glass bottles and a variety of other items.
He referred to the towers as nuestro pueblo, or “our city,” but the community of Watts wasn’t very receptive to his design. Some suspected that the towers were used to communicate with the Japanese during the tensions of World War II, and Rodia’s shipyard was frequently vandalised, while he himself was persecuted. Just a year after they finished touring, he left, never to return.
After the Watts Towers were abandoned, the city of Los Angeles tried to destroy them, only to be met with worldwide protests. Watts Towers, advocates argued, were a stunning popular and cultural landmark, and it would be criminal to tear them down. As a result, the site was eventually restored and passed into state ownership for conservation.
Several annual festivals are held at Watts Towers, and visitors can also enjoy performances at a nearby performing arts center. While Watts Towers may have started out as a bored Italian immigrant’s backyard project, they have developed into an impressive cultural landmark and are visited by large numbers of people every year.
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