The Make it Right Foundation is another non-profit housing group that was the vision of the actor Brad Pitt who has been a resident here before Katrina. Initially Brad invited noted architects to a competition to design homes in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The competitors developed five prototype homes which are a radical departure from the existing homes in the Ninth Ward with innovative and "green" architecture. The house designs were based on an altered "shot gun" house. Many are raised above the ground 5 to 15 feet for potential flooding. There will eventually be 150 homes within four square blocks. The site is right next to the industrial canal which in this particular area had levees that broke because of a barge crashing into it. This area of the Ninth Ward saw the most damage with flood lifting homes off their foundation.
It seems to me that the levee design here is inadequate. The old levees along the Mississippi are built of earth berms that slope up to the river, a much stable system. The levees along the industrial canal are concrete walls similar to concrete retaining walls, a much weaker but less expensive system that occupies less space.
The modern style Make it Right homes look odd compared to the creole cottage designs. However, they are designed to resist hurricanes with 149 mph winds and are designed with sustainable materials and they conserve energy. Most designs have solar panels on their roofs that provide electrical power to the house. Most have cisterns that retain rain water for non potable use. The materials used can be recycled back into the environment and are not toxic. The most interesting design is the house designed by Morphosis, an award winning California firm. The Morphosis house is designed to float on top of a potential flood by detaching itself from it's foundation while it literally floats on top of the flooding waters.
Cesar our Make it Right tour guide said that these homes represent a buidling laboratory where new ideas about construction and architecture can be tried.
What I particularly like about what Make it Right is doing is that they are replacing homes of the same owners who had homes on the same site. Many of these homes prior to Katrina were passed on to subsequent generations who lived in grandma's or grandpa's home for next to nothing. It was a form of affordable housing which Make it Right is trying to sustain. They are also working with residents financially to counsel them with mortgage payments which is a concept they are not familiar with.
The cost of the homes to the home owners are no more that $150,000 despite what the actual construction costs are. The new owners only pay for constrcution. All the "soft" costs of design and management falls on the Foundation. The future home owners pick one of the five prototype designs, the exterior color, and the interior finishes. On the ride back to my place in New Orleans, Cesar said that people have to realize what the community in the Lower Ninth Ward has contributed much to the culture of New Orleans, They are important part of the recovery of New Orleans.
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