Posted on 04/21/2006 1:50:27 PM PDT by Neville72
NEW YORK-- Brad Pitt called Thursday for people to submit proposals for an environmentally friendly design competition he is sponsoring to rebuild parts of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"Our goal is to kick off the rebuilding effort. It's certainly long overdue and I can only go from the reports that we get ... that it's behind, absolutely. People are frustrated," Pitt said by telephone from Namibia.
"We could possibly build something that was better and took into account the historical traditions of the city and the voices of the people and turn this into some kind of good," the actor added.
Pitt, who is currently in the southern African country with actress Angelina Jolie and their children, is teaming up with Global Green USA, a national environmental organization, on the design project.
Pitt will lead a jury made up of architects and local leaders to choose designs by six finalists who will then work with local neighborhoods on more detailed proposals for environmentally sound buildings.
The open competition will focus on the Holy Cross neighborhood in the impoverished Lower 9th Ward. Designs will be submitted in June and the finalists chosen in July.
Pitt described his reaction to watching the scenes of the devastation caused by Katrina. "Truthfully, I dare say we witnessed, to our shame, the fact that there's a portion of our society that's being dismissed and that needs to be rectified and I thought that was a real casualty overall from the event."
Pitt said it was both the humanitarian and design elements of the project that interested him.
"Good architecture is not about building a pretty box and putting it on a piece of land. It's about the needs of the people inhabiting it. It's about the sun, wind, the temperature of the place, their well-being, their quality of life, they go hand in hand. Good architecture cannot exist truthfully without good will," he said.
Pitt said he has a huge interest in architecture.
"I am a bit of a junkie. It's inexplicable really. I believe we creatures are very susceptible to our surroundings. They can actually improve our mode of life and I personally am very affected ... when I walk through an intelligent building. It inspires me," said Pitt. "To me it's like walking through a piece of art and, coupling that now with the green movement of the smarter architecture -- of the healthier buildings with great design -- is a very exciting prospect to me."
Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA, said that Pitt had "really educated himself not just on architecture, but green design as well. We'll probably have a vice-chair as well on the jury to help Brad. There will be a lot of experienced people on there as well as Brad."
The impetus for the competition stems from both a desire to help rebuild the devastated city, and to ensure that at least some of the reconstruction occurs in an environmentally-aware manner that reflect a vision of New Orleans in the future.
"As the rebuilding process in New Orleans begins in earnest we want to ensure that the designs and construction embrace principles of sustainable design and green building," Petersen said.
"What we're doing can help provide a spark for the rebuilding of New Orleans and to do it differently. If we build the right buildings now, we're not going to have to tear them down. They will be more disaster resistant," he added.
Anyone can pre-register from today for the competition although final details on the jury and the brief will not be released until mid-May. The finalist presentation and jury review will take place before the first anniversary of Katrina on Aug. 29.
Global Green, the US arm of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's Green Cross International, is providing technical assistance in green standards for 10,000 buildings in New Orleans. The standards include energy efficiency, improved indoor air quality, clean energy sources and healthy building materials.
Pitt declined to answer questions about the upcoming birth of his biological child with Jolie. "Absolutely not," he laughed.
There is widespread speculation that Jolie intends to give birth in Namibia and that the couple plan to marry there.
Pitt would only say that he had a warm welcome there.
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Global Green USA "Namibia's just a country we're very fond of. It's a beautiful land and hospitable people and a place that we want to be for the time being," he said.
i say this as a licensed architect that has studied vernacular architecture of flood-prone and semi-tropical regions . . .
this is actually a great entry. use of recycled materials. overhangs as sunshades. maximize natural ventillation by use of windows on opposing sides of the home. you know it's going to flood, so you build it on stilts.
when the french first started colonizing new orleans, they figured out the important stuff pretty quick - that it WILL flood, so you'd better design your building around that simple fact. note that nearly every plantation house and french creole cottage down there has been flooded at one time or another - often repeatedly. all of the critical living spaces are above the ground floor. when it starts flooding, you move your important stuff upstairs and wait for the waters to recede.
also note that most of the buildings that were undamaged by the flooding were built before the 1920's, with the main floor at least 4 feet off the ground. homebuilders in the area, for some reason, have since forgotten that floods happen when you live below sea level in the semi-tropics.
those that WANT to live in new orleans will figure out a way to make it happen. socialist social engineering won't work. new orleans has a golden opportunity to hoist itself from the swamp (forgive the pun) of dependency.
there are many citiziens who WANT to pitch in and make new orleans great again. they will do it if government will "promote the[ir] general welfare and let them DO IT.
The fact is, "a conceptual vision" and good will do not necessarily go hand in hand. Good will alone will not beget good design, any more than its absense will negate great architecture. Hitler had a grand scheme with Speer. The Romans built empires on good will, didn’t they? Marie said ‘let them eat cake’ from Versailles after bankrupting France to have it built. Imhotep designed pyramids for Pharoahs… using slaves. The temple of Huitzilopochtli was built for human sacrifice. And the Parthenon celebrated delusional titans above humans.
Good will? Uh huh! Yeah Brad. “Now get behind the car and push”
If they have, it was another actor spouting off about something else they don't know anything about.
I hope they build environmentally friendly buildings that can float if they have to...
Got recipes for those two? Sounds extremely delicious.
FMCDH(BITS)
My modest proposal: A trebuchet in Woldenberg Park, trained across the river, with Ray Nagin first up in the pouch. Assign point values to various Algiers landmarks.
"What time is it?"
Ready...
'"I dunno...."
...Aim...
"Time...to unpimp ze city!"
...Fire.
Whatcha wanna bet, Brad Pitt never set foot in the 9th Ward or any of the surrounding neighborhoods prior to Katrina. I'm not aware that he has been down there since the storm either.
You dun won an '87 Buick...comes with its on cinder blocks
Very few of my recipes are written down -- I cook from memory or make it up along the way. But I will approximate quantities and write down the ingredients, then FReepmail you. Give me a day or so, please.
After reading that; he did Jennifer Anniston a favor by leaving her. Her children would have lost 50 IQ points from the blending.
Simply put, Pitt is the white Cynthia McKinney....a clueless dumba$$ and proud of it.
Oh come on that is not exactly true. First Cynthia would have bashed the President, Brad Pitt did not. Cynthia would have yelled racism. Brad Pitt did not. I don't agree with his living conditions, but this to me is something he feels compasionate about. I am giving him big cudos for not bashing the President and I think you should too. I understand what you mean about clueless because he probably thinks this is an easy endeavor, but he will find out that he was a bit nieve on this project.
After New Orleans, that trebuchet would have a LARGE number of stops in the rest of the US.
"Marinated deer tenderloin on the grill. Big pan of fried potatoes w/bacon and onion. Baked beans. Brocolli slaw."
DAAYY-UMMM. I just finished dinner and that makes me hungry all over again.
Who bagged the venison?
My entry.
I'm so tickled that you asked. I did -- it was my first buck and only my third deer ever. Just a seven point, but I was thrilled. He eats real good too!
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