The project Brad Pitt New Orleans is for the survivors of the Katrina hurricane in New Orleans. This project was initiated by Brad Pitt, a Hollywood actor himself where he commissioned of hiring the world’s top architects to help him design 150 sustainable and green houses for the homeless residents of New Orleans. During the meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative last September 2007, Brad Pitt had pledged to match the five million dollars contribution by Steve Bing, a philanthropist for the project. During the pledge, there are nine other architectural firms who donated their services for the project including the Trahan Architects, Shigeru Ban Architects, Pugh and Scarpa Architecture, MVRDV, Eskew and Dumez and Ripple, Constructs, BNIM Architects, Billed Architecture, and Adjave Associates.
Beyond the public service that Brad Pitt is offering for the residents of New Orleans, Brad already has the long interest in architecture. With the project of Brad Pitt New Orleans, the actor had unveiled his design plans for the homeless residents of New Orleans. He even donated five million dollars in rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans. The design plans of Brad Pitt for New Orleans homes are eco-friendly and are flood-proofs. The thirteen architectural firms that Brad Pitt had commissioned for the project were given the tasks of producing houses that would incorporate the solar power as well as other environmental factors. Brad Pitt even put another five million dollars to put a website for this particular project. The website is www.makeitrightnola.org where corporations, sponsors and church groups can make their donations for the project. The previous residents of the Lower Ninth Ward are expected to have a portion of the new houses at New Orleans.
The city of New Orleans has a remarkable place in Brad Pitt’s heart as this is where the actual scenes of his 1994 movie Interview with the Vampire are taken. He generally falls in love with the city as he even made several back and forth trips last year 2007 with his partner Angelina Jolie and their kids. It’s been more than two years already since the hurricane Katrina had destroyed New Orleans. Brad Pitt had made an announcement in a press conference on his plan and project of building 150 new houses for the homeless residents of New Orleans. These houses are targeted to be finished next year. Despite the resistance from the city as well as from the officials of the federal and state government, Brad Pitt is pushing ahead with the project. There are many politicians and officials who are wondering on what good it will bring to people on rebuilding houses on an area that is prone to flood.
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