Rodia, Simon (1879–1965)

Italian-born US tile setter and craftsman. He began his life work, the 99-foot-high ‘Watts Towers’ in Los Angeles, in 1924. 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.