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Simon Rodia

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Architect

The Resume

    (February 12, 1879-June 17, 1965)
    Born in Campania, Italy
    Birth name is Sabato Rodia
    Designed and single-handedly built the Watts Towers in Los Angeles

Why he might be annoying:

    He married and divorced three times.
    During World War II, his neighbors suspected that the towers were being used to broadcast information to the Japanese.
    He sold his property and moved away from Watts after repeated clashes with his neighbors (1955).
    Afterwards, he never returned to Watts or saw the Towers again.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He said, 'I had in my mind to do something big and I did.'
    He built the towers, two of which reach a height of 99 feet, without any training in architecture or engineering.
    The state tested the safety of the Towers by tying a cable to each tower and using a crane to exert lateral force equivalent to a sustained wind of 75 miles per hour. The Towers withstood the force without any sign of strain and the test ended when the crane started bending.
    The Watts Towers were declared a National Historic Landmark (1985).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 95 Votes: 53.68% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 25 Votes: 52.00% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 17 Votes: 70.59% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 28 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 105 Votes: 50.48% Annoying