In 1921 Simon Rodia, an Italian-born man living and working in California, USA, began the contruction of an intricate, dazzling, imaginative structure in his back garden, know known as the 'Watts Towers'.
The structure is made 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,'(wiki) and other disgarded items. It contains seventeen structures which all interconnect. The two tallest towers of the structure are 30 metres (99 feet) in height!
The unique project took 33 years to complete. Upon completion Rodia handed the title deeds of his house (and the towers) to his neighbour and left.
'The property changed hands, Rodia's bungalow inside the enclosure was burned down, and the city of Los Angeles condemned the structure and ordered it razed. Actor Nicholas King and a film editor William Cartwright visited the site in 1959, saw the neglect, and purchased the property for $3,000 in order to preserve it. When the city found out about the transfer, it decided to perform the demolition before the transfer went through. The towers had already become famous and there was opposition from around the world. King, Cartwright, and museum curator Jim Elliott of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, along with area architects, artists, and community activists formed the Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts. The Committee negotiated with the city to allow for an engineering test to establish the safety of the structures.
The test took place on October 10, 1959.[5] For the test, steel cable was attached to each tower and a crane was used to exert lateral force. The crane was unable to topple or even shift the towers with the forces applied, and the test was concluded when the crane experienced mechanical failure. Bud Goldstone and Edward Farrell were the engineer and architect leading the team.
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