Is Brad Pitt’s New Orleans “Make It Right” project on the Lower Ninth working?

Brad Pitt rebuilding New Orleans

The general consensus about “Make It Right,” Brad Pitt’s project to rebuild New Orleans, is that it could be run a lot better but it’s making much more of a difference than anything the government has done. The actor has put a lot of his time, energy and money into rebuilding the devastated area of New Orleans and even critics would agree that it has had a noticeble, positive effect. (source NY Times, via PopEater)

So, what are the “noticeable, positive effects” of “Make It Right?” The actor started the project in 2007, after being frustrated at how slowly New Orleans was being rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. His mission was to construct affordable, green houses. His foundation has commission 13 architecture firms to build 150 houses for people who used to live on the Lower Ninth and wish to return. Right now only 15 homes are being lived in, and although that isn’t many, they really stand out against the bare landscape of mostly empty lots. Progress has been slow, but there has been progress!

Most of the complaints about The Brad Pitt Houses, as they are known, are aesthetic ones having mainly to do with the weird angles and colors of the structures. The pic below is a more toned down Brad Pitt house, but you can see some of the wackier ones at The New York Times.

They are also being criticized for being elevated on stilts, which is supposed to protect the houses from floods, but also overshadows anyone passing by. Jennifer Pearl, a new Orleans real estate broker, noted that the project could have completed a lot more homes by now if they went with more traditional architecture. But, critics aside, there is no more housing in New Orleans than there was a few years ago.

Learn more about the project at Make It Right’s website.

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Prospective Homeowners Tour Make it Right Homes in Lower Ninth Ward