LA’s graffiti-tagged skyscraper: a work of art – and symbol of city’s wider failings

After its Chinese backers pulled out, Oceanwide Plaza stands abandoned – could it be turned over to those who need it most?An asparagus patch is how the architect Charles Moore described the lackluster skyline of downtown Los Angeles in the 1980s. “The tallest stalk and the shortest stalk are just alike, except that the tallest has shot father out of the ground.”This sprawling city of bungalows has never been known for the quality of its high-rise buildings, and not much has ch