Michael Graves, sede de la compañía Disney, Burbank, 1990

This article covers twenty years of Los Angeles' architectural history, two decades marked by two natural disasters: the devastating earthquake that struck the city on February 9, 1971, and the great drought of 1991.

The earthquake left in its wake a trail of destruction - a multitude of collapsed buildings, collapsed freeways, etc. - that reminded the inhabitants that most of their buildings were built on unstable terraces and slopes or on the unsafe alluvial soil of the plain, which tends to flood when an earthquake occurs.

Meanwhile, the drought has forced water restrictions of up to 25%, making it increasingly likely that Southern California will return to its original semi-desert condition and, worse still, with the prospect of slowing the region's historically tumultuous growth...[+]