Can the presence of a high-rise structure truly create such a threatening atmosphere and social tension, culminating in murder, decay, destruction and even anarchy? The series, “A Future City From The Past” is based on this mystifying vision of a radically aggressive urban dystopia — an uncompromising design in the brutalist dogma. All buildings

Until two weeks later, when an aftershock of almost equal force would hit a wider part of the city, and the message would be clear: for all its mild weather and laid-back vibe, Los Angeles was, is, and probably always would be, a city out of control.