I learned that a man named Simon Rodia moved from Italy to the United States. He lived in Oakland and Martinez in California and he had a wife and three kids. Then he and his wife were not getting along anymore and decided to get divorced. Simon Rodia moved to a place called Watts in Los Angeles, California. He never talked to his kids or wife again! I wonder if his children ever visited Watts Towers. Simon Rodia made a big project and he worked on it all the time!
He used metal to make rings and as he crawled upwards he made the rings more and more narrow until the tops were high and pointed. He used cement and a lot of broken pottery pieces, shells, glass, and tiles. I learned that he used 11,000 slices of broken pottery pieces, 10,000 seashells, 6,000 pieces of colored broken and unbroken glass, and 15,000 pieces of glazed tiles! He added these decorations when the cement was drying.
Simon sold his property to someone who didn’t really care all that much about it. Then some other people tried to buy it and keep it from being torn down and it almost was going to get destroyed at one point but then it did not. The Towers has to pass a test and 10,000 pounds of pressure were pressed on them to see if they would fall down and they did not so they got to stay. Now they are a place to come and visit!
Mama and I are going to work on making small Watts Towers sculptures.