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Brad Pitt Commissions Designs
for New Orleans
James Timberlake added cooling vines climbing up
the side of his building.
Concordia's idea for the devastated Lower Ninth Ward of New
Orleans includes a house with wide steps where neighbors can
gather.
Thom Mayne of Morphosis in Los Angeles designed a
house that would float if the city floods. James Timberlake of
KieranTimberlake Associates in Philadelphia created a house with
native vines climbing up the side walls to provide shade and
coolness. Steven B. Bingler of Concordia in New Orleans envisioned
a house with wide front steps ideal for a traditional crawfish
boil.
Those are three of the designs by 13 architecture firms
commissioned by the actor Brad Pitt to help rebuild New Orleans’s
impoverished Lower Ninth Ward, one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by
Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The project, called Make It Right, calls for building 150
affordable, environmentally sound houses over the next two years. In a
telephone interview from New Orleans, where he plans to present the
designs today, Mr. Pitt said the residents of the neighborhood had
been homeless long enough. “They’re coming up on their third
Christmas,” he said.
Mr. Pitt said he had been attached to New Orleans for more than a
decade. “I’ve always had a fondness for this place — it’s like
no other,” he said. “Seeing the frustration firsthand made me want
to return the kindness this city has shown me.”
Rather than bemoan the slow pace of redevelopment in the Ninth
Ward, Mr. Pitt said he decided to address the problem directly by
teaming with William McDonough, the green design expert; Graft, a Los
Angeles architecture firm; and Cherokee, an investment firm based in
Raleigh, N.C., that specializes in sustainable redevelopment. John
Williams of New Orleans is the executive architect for the project.
“If you have this blank slate and this great technology out
there, what better test than low-income housing?” Mr. Pitt said.
“It’s got to work at all levels to really be viable.”
When Make It Right was announced at the meeting of the Clinton
Global Initiative in September, Mr. Pitt pledged to match $5 million
in contributions to the project, as did Steve Bing, the
philanthropist. Nine other firms — all of whom donated their
services — are involved, including Adjaye Associates; Billes
Architecture; BNIM Architects; Constructs; Eskew & Dumez &
Ripple; MVRDV; Pugh and Scarpa Architecture; Shigeru Ban Architects;
and Trahan Architects. “We wanted to have a mixture of voices,”
Mr. Pitt said.
Beyond serving a public need, Mr. Pitt — who has a longstanding
interest in architecture — was eager to see what the designers came
up with. “I was most curious about advancing the discussion
further,” he said. “That was certainly one of the benefits of this
exercise. There is no other reason to call on these great minds if
you’re just going to shackle them.”
The green building elements will reduce upkeep costs by at least 75
percent, Mr. Pitt said, and reduce some of the problems that
devastated the Lower Ninth Ward during Katrina, when multiple levee
breaks forced thousands of people from their homes.
The architects were each asked to design a 1,200-square-foot house
for about $150,000, with Make It Right to help with the financing. The
houses had to be built five to eight feet off the ground, with a front
porch and three bedrooms.
Mr. Mayne of Morphosis opted for a lightweight concrete foundation
anchored by two pylons, like a pier, which would buoy the house if
floodwaters rise. “It’s a boat,” Mr. Mayne said.
“The population doesn’t want to live on stilts — and it’s
expensive,” he added. “These are simple houses for low-income
people.”
Mr. Bingler of Concordia said his design called for homes “that
would respond to the culture of the Lower Ninth Ward.” He said
residents had asked him for “a house where the baby can be sleeping
in the back, the mama making red beans in the kitchen and the grandpa
can be on the front porch entertaining neighbors.”
Mr. Pitt is asking foundations, corporations and individuals to
contribute to the project by adopting one house, several houses or a
portion of a house through the project Web site, makeitrightnola.org.
“You can adopt a tankless water heater or a solar panel or a tree or
a low-flush toilet,” Mr. Pitt said. “You can give it to someone
for Christmas,” he said — instead of another sweater.
Responding to critics who question the wisdom of rebuilding at all
in an area likely to get hit again, Mr. Pitt said: “My first answer
to that is, talk to the people who’ve lived there and have raised
their kids there. People are needing to get back in their homes.”
Brad Pitt
December 9, 2007
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