Watts Tower Presenting Artist: Mardie Rees Studying the life and work of American artist Simon Rodia Understanding the concept of vernacular architecture Learning techniques for working with wire and clay

Definition: 1.The art or science of designing and creating buildings 2.A method or style of building What is architecture?

The first known book written about architecture was written by a Roman architect named Vitruvius. Romans were well-known for their architecture. They believed every building should be strong in: What is Architecture? Durability (how long a building will last) Utility (how well it fits its purpose) Beauty (how pretty it is) The Coliseum – Rome, Italy

Colonial Usually keeps to the idea of a flat front, symmetry with a door in the middle and windows on either side. Architectural Styles Gothic architecture is highly decorative and ornate. Classical Characterized by grand, imposing structures, usually with columns and arches. Very formal looking. There are many different types of building styles and they change with times and cultures. Colonial Cape Cod House - Massachusetts Parthenon replica – Nashville, Tennessee Wells Cathedral, United Kingdom

Architectural Styles Architectural Style Arts & Crafts The feel of this style is the opposite of industrial, a back-to- nature ideal. Postmodernism celebrated decoration for decoration’s sake and started using form over function. Sometimes several historical styles are used at once on one building. Galveston, Texas Galvestan, Texas Experience Music Project building - Seattle, WA

Buildings that : Use materials found locally Feature local traditions and cultures What is vernacular architecture?

Buildings that : Are designed and built without professional architects Use recycled materials and “green” construction practices What is vernacular architecture?

1) The first form of vernacular architecture is traditional building. Traditional buildings are structures which have been made in ways that have been passed down for thousands of years. Three kinds of vernacular architecture Brazilian longhouse Inuit igloo Hopi pueblos

2) Ecological “green” homebuilding for sustainability or to fit in to the environment. The second kind of vernacular architecture

This whole monastery in Thailand is made from recycled bottles!

3) Structures built for art and self- expression. Usually created by one artist out of found or common materials. The third kind of vernacular architecture is whimsical! Paradise Gardens, Georgia Watts Towers, California Cathedral of Junk, Texas

The Watts Towers Built by Simon Rodia, who was NOT an architect All materials bought or found locally Vernacular Architecture at its best!

The Watts Towers Built over 34 years 17 sculptures, including 3 tall spires, 2 walls and a gazebo Rodia called it “Nuestro Pueblo” or “our town”

Simon Rodia gathered old soda & medicine bottles, broken tiles & whatever he could find to create the wonderful Towers of Watts.

The Watts Towers “Old Sam” sat in a window washer’s seat suspended from his towers while listening to his favorite opera music sung by Enrico Caruso. Click on the speaker to hear Enrico Caruso sing!

Simon Rodia left the property in The City of Los Angeles was going to tear the towers down, but a committee saved the sculptures. The area is now a state historic park.

Mardie Rees Mardie Rees is a working artist living here in Gig Harbor, with her husband and their two (soon to be three) young children. She and her husband run an art school, Apprentice Academy where she teaches kids and adults to embrace artistic expression and develop their natural talents. Mardie has created life-size bronze sculptures for grand memorials and public spaces, as well as smaller pieces for private families. She sculpts by hand, crafts from live models, and casts in bronze using the time-honored lost-wax method. You may have seen her work at St. Anthony’s Hospital. Saint Anthony of Padua

Build Your Own Tower Bend both 18” pieces of aluminum wire in half, making sure the ends meet up. Do this one wire at a time. Hold the two bent pieces together so the curved ends match up.

Build Your Own Tower Twist the top of the two wires in a loop. Wrap a piece of colored wire around the tops, making sure to wrap around and through the wires so the two pieces are connected as one. There's no wrong way to do this, but it's important to make your tower strong, so wrap tightly! If needed parent volunteers can help with pliers. Spread the ends out a little to make a teepee shape. This is the basis of your tower.

Build Your Own Tower Using the thinner colored wire, thread on beads, buttons or other items, and then weave the wire around the “legs” of your tower. You can use some wire to wrap around items that don't have a hole, and then wrap the end of the wire onto the tower to attach them. Leave about an inch at the bottom empty – this will be pushed into the base. If you wrap the wire around individual legs, as well as wrapping around the outside, it will strengthen your tower.

Build Your Own Tower Once the wire sculpture is complete, you will use the clay to mold a base for the tower. Create a round, thick slab like a short cylinder. Making the shape perfect isn't necessary; it just needs to be a flat-bottomed solid shape. Place this on the paper plate, and then you can mosaic the base by pressing bits of glass, pottery, or trinkets into the clay. When the base is the way you like it, gently press the feet of the tower into the top of the wet clay, sinking the wire about an inch. Your Watts Tower is complete! Do not move or wiggle the tower on the base or it will not dry securely.