Brad Pitt and The Pink Project in New Orleans
Brad Pitt is one good looking man, he is also a knowledgeable fan of architecture, particularly that of Frank Lloyd Wright, and has helped the National Trust for Historic Preservation raise money to purchase Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House for $7.5 million.
The Pink Project
While filming on a set in New Orleans, actor Brad Pitt became seduced by the powerful image of a pink-clad CGI house within the lush Louisiana surroundings. He saw the pink structure as a metaphor, representing the future of renewed housing for those displaced by the recent disasters. Thus the birth of the Pink Project.
Image Source: Archinect
Prototype, clad and lit at night. Image Source: Archinect
These pink shelters are temporary, the ultimate goal of the Pink Project is to gather enough momentum via art and eventually into a successful fund raising effort for the Make it Right 9 project to construct 150 actual houses in New Orleans Ninth Ward. Thirteen architectural firms are involved in the project, many of which are donating their services. Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bing have each committed to matching $5 million in donations.
The proposed houses are being designed with an emphasis on sustainability and affordability, with the hope that the project can and will be replicated throughout the city. Below are some images of the proposed houses.
Image Source: Make It Right
Image Source: Make It Right
Image Source: Make It Right
I can’t help but notice some similarity in the overall design proposal by the 13 architects with the traditional Malay house, the obvious fact that most of these houses are raised above the ground.
A main characteristic of a typical kampung house includes the obvious fact that it is raised on stilts or piles. This was to avoid wild animals, to be above floods, to deter thieves and for added ventilation. – Wikipedia
A Traditional Malay House. Image Source: Makan Guru
I’ve been to a few Traditional Malay houses and based on my experience, these houses are indeed sustainable, the raised piles allows maximum ventilation and it doubles up as a preventive measurement for all tropical storms and floods.
Back to Brad Pitt, some people are annoyed with the whole idea of him wanting to be an architect and something about him went to school for five years and did all that studying stuff. As for me, I don’t have any issues with Brad Pitt spreading the architecture gospel, what harm can it bring if more people are aware of their surroundings and responsibility?
Brad Pitt’s part time hobby is my job.
Tags: Brad Pitt, Kampung, Make it Right, Malay Traditional House, New Orleans, Sustainability, The Pink Project
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Going Green – Chicago City Hall
Image Source: Time Magazine, Photographer: Anne Ryan / Polaris
I came across an interesting article on the latest Time Magazine, it is about greening rooftops. According to the magazine, in an effort to conserve energy, reduce storm water runoff and deflect heat, the roof of Chicago City Hall has been transformed into a brilliant garden. Undeniably it is a good idea, since urban landscape viewed from above can sometimes be an eye sore, ugly in short, or at least that is what most people perceived it to be.
Green roofs are not limited to the city; instead it is what cities around the world needed the most. Chicago has 214,000 sq/m of rooftop gardens and many more on the way.
Its something organic but what type of vegetation are those?
Though green roofs are typically planted with only sedums and low grasses, the planting palette has been expanded significantly to accommodate research related to the viability of over 100 species of plants. The variety of plants include native prairie and woodland grasses and forbs, hardy ornamental perennials and grasses, several species of native and ornamental shrubs, and two varieties of trees. Source: Asla.org
What a waste, I doubt anyone would want to stroll through that garden, they should have grown corns on the roof top, harvest it and feed the poor.
Tags: Chicago, Chicago City Hall, City Hall, Green Rooftops, Landscape, Sustainability, Urban, Vegetation
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