Make it Right: 13 Designs, 150 Houses

If this project doesn't exhibit the power of celebrity, I don't know what does.  Brad Pitt has been able to bring serious innovation to the Lower Ninth Ward -- this cool concept is becoming a serious reality.  The Make It Right Project involves some of the most talented architects in the country, and they're building low-income, high-design, sustainable homes.  It's incredible.

The homes you see below present a new picture of the American Dream.  It's green and looks good.  It's built in response to the environment, not in the face of the environment.  It facilitates the community, too.  There are 13 home designs for 150 total homes.  You can sponsor a home for $150,000.  As much as we'd like to sponsor an entire home in the name of Jetson Green, I'm going to just donate some personally.  Maybe some day this blog will get to that point.  I've included images of the designs for you viewing pleasure (click the firm name for background and more images).  Any favorites?

• ADJAYE ASSOCIATES

• KIERAN TIMBERLAKE ASSOCIATES

• BILLES ARCHITECTURE

• SHIGERU BAN ARCHITECTURE

• CONCORDIA ARCHITECTURE

• PUGH + SCARPA ARCHITECTURE

• CONSTRUCTS LLC

• MVRDV

• BNIM ARCHITECTS

• ESKEW+DUMEZ+RIPPLE

• MORPHOSIS

• TRAHAN ARCHITECTURE

• GRAFT

Other Good Links:
++Brad Pitt to Make It Right with 150 Affordable, Sustainable Homes
++Brad Pitt's Hypnotic, Green Holy Cross Project

Comments

[Preston]

There's a video online with some more quotes and text on CNN.

[Diana 'Money Maker' Maine]

Using designs like these in New Orleans will change housing from what it currently is.

Take a catastrophe that is New Orleans, make it beautifully efficient, and you will have a miracle that'll be remembered for a long time to come.

Diana

[PK]

Did anyone notice that the same girl is in the renderings for both Concordia Architecture and Pugh + Scarpa Architecture? Any architects know how this works?

[carpespasm]

These designs mostly suck for hurricane and flood resistance. They need to get rid of those overhangs since those will be the point strong winds use to rip roofs off houses. They need to be looking more to Caribbean housing design if they want to have better hurricane resistance on the cheap. Either you build it cheaply enough that when it's destroyed it's not too expensive a loss and not too expensive to replace or you build it so strong and weather resistant that it's not condemned when you get back from evacuation.

[Frank]

I agree with the hurricane comment. The solar panel won't last 5 minutes.

[Matthew E.]

I love the idea of having the houses with solar pannels on top of the roof and having organic plants growing on the sides of the houses but I have two questions. Will personal up keep have to play a role in maintaing the house complex? Also, are the developers trying to keep up with the architecture of New Orleans or are they bringing in a new fresher vibe to the area? Since I am a past resident of New Orleans who went to school in the 9th ward it seems only right to keep the memory and soul of the area still alive even during the rebuilding process

[Matthew E.]

OOO ya another thing is..you cant stop hurricane wind and rising water damages if the levees brake...most houses in the lower 9 didnt get their roofs blown away they just got water.It diddnt matter if you had a house on concrete stilts ten feet above the ground the water that rushed in from the broken levees... it moved houses off their foundations...pretty much whatever house you build that is cost affective still cant measure up to water when the levees break...the Caribbean dosent have to worry about flooding as much as we do because there not already below sea level with water all around them. Yes they are islands but they dont have to bowl affect that we do.

[LLoyd]

Awesome designs but do they float? The levees will break again, and these pretty houses will be underwater. No house built in a flood plain, much less below sea level in the 9th ward should be build unless it can float.

[jennifer.aniston]

lol! Those are just trailers, with vines on the outside. The only difference is, you can get a top of the line trailer for around 65k and they want 150k for those ridiculous looking cabins.

[Anglictina]

Very nice :)

[Paul Smith]

I recently saw a presentation by Eugene Tsui, who is all about biomimicry based designs that are extremely weather resistant, largely based on curved rather then rectangular based structures, deflecting force. Where is he? Is he doing anything in New Orleans? Check him out at http://www.tdrinc.com/ He's eccentric, but a total genius.

[eric]

It was nice of Mr. Pitt to assemble these firms and pay for their designs while bringing some attention to something that seams to be forgotten by so many...

It's too bad he doesn't just finance the whole thing. Surely he and some of the other holly wood elite could foot the bill.

[Daniel Diaz-Luong]

Wow! Wish I could live in a house like that right now!

[Pitman]

The architecture firms are using the same software to render these houses. That is why you see the same person in both designs. New Orleans architecture has certain key features like: bright colors, social front porches / balconies and houses are elongated to fit the narrow lots. They are not trailers. It is an art to balance form w/ function while making a design energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing. $150k... that was the planned figure. The owners will see considerable cost savings by lowering consumption but there is much, much more to this movement than the price tag on the first homes to be mass built to a green standard. The overhangs, solar panels and houses will stand up to hurricanes because they will be designed to stand up to hurricanes and checked by an engineer. Most AEC design professionals are not boneheads, though the few boneheads get all the press. There are wood structure houses that were recently built and were in construction during Katrina that held up fine because they were designed to. I believe Brad Pitt has pledged $3 million and is getting his "elite" friends to pledge money also.

[Craig]

All square buildings (Can US architects ever think out side the box?). Boxes don't do well up against circular storms. All the houses should be domed shaped to better handle both the water AND the wind.

[Craig]

All square buildings (Can US architects ever think out side the box?). Boxes don't do well up against circular storms. All the houses should be domed shaped to better handle both the water AND the wind.

[Joe]

I know flooding is a bit of a concern, and in a flood it's nice to be up on stilts. But how does a physically handicapped person enter these houses? Does your grandmother really have to carry her groceries up 7 or 8 steps to reach the porch? Has the ADA not taught us anything about residential construction?

[GGGNBC]

I've got news for ya. New Orleans lies below sea level, in an area that is prone to hurricanes. Doesn't matter what you build there. Next time, all the same caterwauling, finger pointing and b1ame shifting will happen again. The federal government won't save you from ourself because a) That's not their responsibility and b) They are too incompetent anyway. Number one rule should be, don't build your house, village or city below sea level in a hurricane zone.

[Wes Davis]

I assume that these homes will have air conditioning. I hope these home's cooloing systems are installed according to the national standard. It would be a shame if these well designed homes were cooled with oversized units or wasted more energy with leaky duct systems or failed to provide the good comfort that comes from air balancing. All of these and many more elements of an HVAC system quality installation can be found in the free national standard.

Wes

[Preston]

As the owner of this blog, I reserve the right to reject racist, degrading comments, and have been doing that. I'm shocked at what people say behind the veil of an anonymous name.

[Cat Laine]

Most Fave: Concordia Architecture
If your house lies below sea level, it should be on some serious stilts.

Least Fave: MVRDV
Unless that is a Go-go gadget house, that looks remarkably unpleasant. Reminds me of the Stata Center at MIT. Interesting concept, but execution will probably be an awful experience on the space.

[Jeanette Carter]

I have a bunch of favorites but since there is so little information I'm leaning to the Shiguru Ban house for the layout of the kitchen and open space. Very elegant and calming.

Next Morphosis boat house but I need more views of the inside layout. But this house is very interesting to me...the ability to float.

[Stan Fowler]

I am a modernist and love modernism, but seeing these wacky designs all together will look kind of junky. They will be so out of date in a few years and people will be begging for another hurricane so they can start over. Sometimes, cleaner, simpler classical or modern classical shapes work together as a group and streetscape. An occasional folly building is ok and add spice.

[Sparkle Plenty]

Thanks for posting these renderings. I love the designs and the boost the Pink Project can give to green living in NOLA and elsewhere. My only concern is, as someone above observed, these designs all seem to require some steps-climbing to gain entry. I've read that a large number of disabled and elderly lived in the 9th ward and hope their limitations have been taken into account.

[Omer Katzir]

How do I get in contact with someone in regards to providing some material?

[Just Me]

Hi, I also wonder how well these houses will hold up in a hurricane, but I'm really here to comment on the "Blame the Victims" mentality that I heard over and over during Katrina.

When Hurricane ANDREW hit Florida, we learned that one reason there was so much devastation was because they have (or had) really poor building codes down there to SAVE MONEY.

Since I live in California, where we have fairly tough building codes because of the risk of earthquakes, I feel that holding Floridians somewhat responsible for what happened is fair. But I'd like to know what crime the poor in New Orleans are guilty of (other than being poor of course)? Do million dollar homes float or something?

The wealthy don't want to build homes in high-risk flood zones anymore than the poor do, and they're fortunate that they can afford not to. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the poor didn't build the levees did they? Oh, and abandoning your home isn't going to prevent it from flooding.

Recently, there were massive firestorms in California. They were down near San Diego. I kept waiting for some of those "Orange County Republicans" to sneer that it was their own fault for building their homes in dry brushy terrain.

I was also waiting for them to announce that they really couldn't expect the government to waste "my tax dollars" to save them or their homes, to help them rebuild, or to solve "all" their problems for them. I'm still waiting....

On the bright side, Orange County can now power their homes with all that methane they're generating down there. : )

[Jon Wright]

To Whom It May Concern,

I am very interested in this project and would love to see more info in regards to the different designs for the homes that are planned for the 9th Ward in New Orleans.

cordially,
Jon Wright

[Gail Steliga]

I applaud Brad Pitt. At least he is doing something rather than critizing everyone and everything. I am a custom home builder looking to incorporate affordable components in our next project and I live in NJ. We all have a responsibility to educate ourselves and do whatever we can to preserve the only home we all have....Mother Earth!

[Scott Oman]

FYI the first 6 homes are being built right now. My company, http://www.southcoastsolar.com is installing the solar power systems. There will be very little upkeep to the systems and with the solar and other efficiency measures the homes will use %80-%90 less energy than current code compliant homes of similar size.

[Scott Oman]

FYI the first 6 homes are being built right now. My company, http://www.southcoastsolar.com is installing the solar power systems. There will be very little upkeep to the systems and with the solar and other efficiency measures the homes will use %80-%90 less energy than current code compliant homes of similar size.

[South Coast Solar]

FYI the first 6 homes are being built right now. My company, South Coast Solar, is installing the solar power systems. There will be very little upkeep to the systems and with the solar and other efficiency measures the homes will use %80-%90 less energy than current code compliant homes of similar size.