NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Expanding on a promise he made nearly two months ago, actor Brad Pitt said Monday he expects to have families in 150 newly created homes in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward by the end of next summer -- but he asked for help to make the dream a reality.
"To build those 150 homes, we need the help of the American people," he said in a news conference Monday. "We need to all join together to do this. There is no reason why we can't do a thousand homes."
Pitt announced in September that he was partnering with film producer Steve Bing to build "affordable and sustainable homes" in the Lower 9th Ward, an area of the city that Hurricane Katrina devastated in 2005. Pitt and Bing have also each pledged $5 million to the rebuilding project.
The 150 eco-friendly homes mark the first initiative of Pitt's "Make it Right" project, aimed at redeveloping the Lower 9th Ward.
Once marked by dense housing, the Lower 9th Ward was heavily flooded during Hurricane Katrina, and afterward most of the area was razed. There has been little rebuilding done there since the storm, although some people have been living in trailers in the area.
"You're going to see life coming in," the 43-year-old actor told NBC's "Today" show. "We'll have people in homes by the end of next summer."
Impact Your World
On Monday, Pitt walked through the neighborhood where the houses are to be built. Housing forms draped in pink tarps filled the area.
Later, he explained the rationale behind the bright hue.
"My thinking why it's pink is because it screams the loudest," he said at the news conference. "It says people are coming back."
He noted that others have suggested the color evokes the American dream of "little pink houses," as described in John Mellencamp's song of the same name, or that the houses were the "pink elephant" in the room: "That at the federal level it's business as usual. ... Down here we're still in limbo. We're still waiting."
Pitt said he welcomes more donations. "This is really an adopt-a-house campaign," he told NBC. "I'm asking for foundations, for high-network individuals, for church groups, for corporations to come in and adopt a house. Basically $150,000 will get a family back into their home."
Pitt said 13 architects have helped in the project. He said design requirements for the homes were "affordability, sustainability, safety -- and that they be beautiful," according to The Associated Press.
In the news conference Monday, Robert Green -- a New Orleans resident who lost his 73-year-old mother and 3-year-old granddaughter on August 29, 2005, the day Katrina hit -- expressed his gratitude for what Pitt and "Make it Right" are trying to do.
"We get a chance to bring our community back," he said. "This is something we need, something to spearhead the change that's going to make things right for our community again."
Pitt's work is not the only high-profile rebuilding effort in New Orleans.
Jazz musician Branford Marsalis and musician-actor Harry Connick Jr. have teamed with Habitat for Humanity to build a "Musicians' Village" in the Upper 9th Ward. Construction began in March 2006. More than 40 families now live in homes in the village, according to the Habitat for Humanity Web site.
Pitt and Angelina Jolie own their own house in New Orleans, a French Quarter mansion the pair purchased in early 2007.
"[New Orleans] has an energy like no other place," Pitt told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in May. "I've got to get me some of it. I absolutely love it there."
Showing posts with label new orleans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new orleans. Show all posts
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Brad Pitt plans to rebuild ravaged New Orleans
ACTOR Brad Pitt has launched his own regeneration project for hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, unveiling designs for a range of eco-friendly and flood-proof homes.
Pitt commissioned 13 architectural firms to produce houses that would incorporate solar power and other environmentally sound designs.
He has put up $US5 million ($A5.7 million) of his own money and launched a website, www.makeitrightnola.org, asking corporations, church groups and others for $US150,000 donations for his adopt-a-house project, as well as smaller public donations.
Former residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans will be expected to contribute part of the cost of the new houses, with Make It Right making up the shortfall.
The actor fell in love with the city while filming Interview with the Vampire there in 1994. Earlier this year, he set up home in the city's French Quarter with Angelina Jolie and their children.
More than two years after the destruction of much of the city by hurricane Katrina, Pitt announced his plan for 150 new houses to be completed by next year. He said there was no reason why it could not expand to 10,000 or even 100,000.
Pitt is pushing ahead in spite of resistance from the city, state and the federal governments, with many officials and politicians wondering whether it is a good idea to rebuild at all in a flood-prone area.
The homes are to be built initially in the city's Lower Ninth Ward, one of the poorest — and mainly black — areas of the city. It was flattened by flooding and remains almost deserted.
To publicise his cause, Pitt had 150 huge pink Monopoly-shaped tents scattered about the Lower Ninth. He said the aim was to replace them with houses. The pink blocks, which he described as a work of art, are to be taken on a five-week tour, decorated with 1000 light bulbs that he stressed would be solar-powered.
He said yesterday the priorities for the architects were safety, sustainability, affordability and aesthetics. They were asked to design homes that are at least 1.5 metres off the ground, with a porch and three bedrooms, at a cost of about $US150,000.
One of the architects has designed a floating house instead of one on stilts, incorporating a lightweight concrete foundation held down by two pylons, which would rise with floodwaters.
Pitt, who is from Missouri, was in New Orleans earlier this year filming a new film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But he told a television interviewer yesterday that rebuilding the Lower Ninth was a bigger priority than his movie career. "Right now this is the focus, and we're going to see this thing through."
Pitt commissioned 13 architectural firms to produce houses that would incorporate solar power and other environmentally sound designs.
He has put up $US5 million ($A5.7 million) of his own money and launched a website, www.makeitrightnola.org, asking corporations, church groups and others for $US150,000 donations for his adopt-a-house project, as well as smaller public donations.
Former residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans will be expected to contribute part of the cost of the new houses, with Make It Right making up the shortfall.
The actor fell in love with the city while filming Interview with the Vampire there in 1994. Earlier this year, he set up home in the city's French Quarter with Angelina Jolie and their children.
More than two years after the destruction of much of the city by hurricane Katrina, Pitt announced his plan for 150 new houses to be completed by next year. He said there was no reason why it could not expand to 10,000 or even 100,000.
Pitt is pushing ahead in spite of resistance from the city, state and the federal governments, with many officials and politicians wondering whether it is a good idea to rebuild at all in a flood-prone area.
The homes are to be built initially in the city's Lower Ninth Ward, one of the poorest — and mainly black — areas of the city. It was flattened by flooding and remains almost deserted.
To publicise his cause, Pitt had 150 huge pink Monopoly-shaped tents scattered about the Lower Ninth. He said the aim was to replace them with houses. The pink blocks, which he described as a work of art, are to be taken on a five-week tour, decorated with 1000 light bulbs that he stressed would be solar-powered.
He said yesterday the priorities for the architects were safety, sustainability, affordability and aesthetics. They were asked to design homes that are at least 1.5 metres off the ground, with a porch and three bedrooms, at a cost of about $US150,000.
One of the architects has designed a floating house instead of one on stilts, incorporating a lightweight concrete foundation held down by two pylons, which would rise with floodwaters.
Pitt, who is from Missouri, was in New Orleans earlier this year filming a new film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But he told a television interviewer yesterday that rebuilding the Lower Ninth was a bigger priority than his movie career. "Right now this is the focus, and we're going to see this thing through."
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Easy Riders
Brad Pitt and his son Pax visit the Make It Right site in New Orleans. The movie star has assembled a team of architects, environmentalists, and community leaders to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Young Pax takes the wheel of the 4x4 utility cart, with a little help from dad.
After their spin around the project site, Brad and Pax stop to have a snack at a local convenience store.
Awwww....too cute....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
