Simon Rodia

Tile setter and craftsman, born in Italy. An immigrant handyman, in 1924 he began his life work, the 99 ft high ‘Watts Towers’ in Los Angeles. He worked on the triple spire of steel rods, chicken wire, and concrete intermittently until 1954, when he declared the job finished. Critics take the towers seriously as a work of sculpture, and they were designated a national landmark in 1991.

Sabato "Simon" (or "Sam" to his friends) Rodia (1879 - 1965) was an Italian immigrant to the United States who spent much of his adulthood living in Los Angeles, California. In particular Rodia lived in the Watts district of Los Angeles where he constructed his most famous creation: the Watts Towers.

Rodia began working on the towers in 1921 and finished them in 1954.

Claims that Rodia's surname was "Rodella" or "Rodilla," or that his given name was "Sabatino," rather than Sabato, are generally given little credibility, and are likely the result of misspellings.