Watts Towers

The Watts Towers are one of the most extraordinary works of outsider art in the world — 17 interconnected structures of steel, mortar, and found objects (broken pottery, glass bottles, seashells, ceramic tiles) built single-handedly over 33 years (1921-1954) by Sabato 'Simon' Rodia, an Italian immigrant construction worker who built the towers in his backyard without engineering training, scaffolding, or help from anyone. The tallest tower reaches 30 metres, and the entire complex is a National Historic Landmark and a designated UNESCO cultural heritage site.

Rodia, who never explained why he built the towers beyond saying 'I had in mind to do something big,' used simple hand tools, wrapped steel rebar into armatures, coated them with cement, and embedded the surface with the objects he collected from the surrounding neighbourhood — a mosaic technique that draws from the trencadís of Gaudí (whom Rodia may or may not have known about) and the folk art traditions of his native Italy. When he finished in 1954, he deeded the property to a neighbour and left Los Angeles, never returning.

The towers are in Watts, a neighbourhood in South Los Angeles that is better known for the 1965 riots than for art, and the juxtaposition of Rodia's solitary creative obsession with the social history of the surrounding community adds a layer of meaning that the towers' location was never intended to carry. The Watts Towers Arts Center, adjacent to the towers, hosts exhibitions and community programmes that connect Rodia's legacy to the contemporary art scene in South LA. Guided tours (required for close access to the towers) run Wednesday through Saturday.