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Brad Pitt, Hurricane Katrina, and the unveiling of the amazing pink floating house
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The Float House prototype in the Lower 9th Ward
It was five years ago that Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of New Orleans, and ultimately was one of the worst natural disasters to breach the shores of the United States. Almost a million residents were displaced as part of the immediate consequences of the storm.
In spite of, or perhaps because of the slow, inadequate government response to this disaster, volunteers from across the country and around the world stepped up to the plate to provide assistance. While parts of New Orleans sustained relatively little damage and were quickly restored, there are still areas that are almost as uninhabitable as they were shortly after the storm. Thousands of people still have no homes, or are living in conditions that are unsanitary and inadequate, as they continue to wait for help.
Brad Pitt toured New Orleans shortly after the floods, and was so moved by the plight of some of the hundreds of thousands who were displaced that he vowed to do all he could to help rebuild the Lower 9th ward, one of the areas most devastated, and least restored.
While the Army Corps of engineers studied the problems Katrina left behind, and Congress continues to debate who is responsible to pay for the rebuilding, thousands of volunteers, non-profits, and charitable organizations are still assisting with basic needs for the inhabitants, providing food, medical aide, and temporary housing. In addition, they are still on hand to assist with clean up, demolition , and repairing what can be repaired in the lower 9th ward. Habitat for Humanity is working with Southern Baptist churches, and Build Now, another non-profit continues to play an active part in bringing New Orleans families back home.
Brad Pitt founded the Make it Right Foundation shortly after the storm. The objective for the foundation was to be a catalyst for redevelopment of the Lower 9th Ward comprised of safe and healthy homes. The homes were to be high quality that still preserved the spirit of the community’s culture. With Brad Pitts notoriety he was able to attract and establish many partnerships with a coalition of community based non-profit organizations that have assisted in identifying and contacting returning residents of the Lower 9th Ward.
The MIR (Make it Right) Foundation was designated a non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Delaware on August 16, 2007. Since then, MIR has been laying the groundwork for building a sustainable community of 150 homes in the Lower 9th Ward.
The foundation consists of experts in environmental architecture, a coalition of non-profit agencies, local, national and international architects, the Cherokee Give Back Foundation , and of course has the support of numerous other celebrities, such as Ellen DeGeneres and President Bill Clinton.
The Pink Project was launched as a catalyst for positive change and the inaugural event for the Make It Right initiative. The color pink was first chosen when Brad Pitt noticed a home draped in pink during a filming of a movie he was in, in New Orleans. Because the pink made such a statement, he chose pink as the color of Hope for MIR. The Pink Project represents opportunities hidden within this tragedy and focuses attention on the plight of the Lower 9th. Pink is a virtual city of Hope. A hybrid of art, architecture, cinema and media. Pink is conceived as an informational, commemorative, communication tool which raises awareness and activates individual participation to heal local wounds in need of global aid.
Brad Pitt has again garnered notice with the unveiling of the first Float House in the Lower 9th, on October 6, 2009. The float house is a pre-fab home that is capable of floating up to 12 feet off its foundation during flooding. Developed by Morphosis architects and 7 UCLA graduate students, to meet the needs of families in New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward, the FLOAT House is a prototype for prefabricated, affordable housing that can be adapted to the needs of flood zones worldwide. The FLOAT House is assembled on-site from pre-fabricated components.
While it is low cost construction, to protect from flooding, the FLOAT House can rise vertically on guide posts, securely floating up to twelve feet as water levels rise. In the event of a flood, the house’s chassis acts as a raft, guided by steel masts, which are anchored to the ground by two concrete pile caps each with six 45-foot deep piles. The home is not designed for residents to remain in the home during a flood, but if necessary, residents can do so safely for up to 3 days.
And to make it even better, this house was built “green." It is a high-performance house that generates and sustains its own water and power needs.
On track for a LEED Platinum Rating, the FLOAT House is an innovative model for affordable, net-zero annual energy consumption housing. High-performance systems sustain the home’s power, air, and water needs, and minimize resource consumption: And, of course, the Float house is pink, to represent the hope that is being returned to the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.
It's too bad that giving back on the scale that MIR is accomplishing requires the fame and notoriety of someone like Brad Pitt, but I believe he stands as another outstanding example of the good that can be accomplished with the spirit and generosity of the famous.
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