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"Brad Pitt Makes It Right in New Orleans\nAfter Hurricane Katrina, Brad Pitt Breaks New Ground and Helps Rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward\n\"It's changed me,\" Brad Pitt says of his Make It Right Foundation, whose aim is to build 150 homes for residents of New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, which was devastated by 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Architects from around the globe have signed on to design houses, six of which have been completed so far. \"I never had any idea that so many people would show up for this,\" Pitt adds. \"The model works, and it's replicable.\"\nIn mid-2007 area residents, community leaders and Pitt met with architectural firms to discuss their mutual vision for the neighborhood and to establish guidelines for the creation of safe, affordable, sustainable and well-designed homes. A house by KieranTimberlake Associates of Philadelphia was built using prefabricated panels whose materials make the structure particularly resistant to termites and mold.\nSolar panels enable each residence to produce at least 75 percent of its own electricity. The new houses also feature rooftop escape hatches so that residents won't be trapped in the event of a flood.\nPitt takes in the view.\nA design by the Berlin- and Los Angeles-based architectural firm Graft sits on land once crowded with homes. A surge of storm water following Hurricane Katrina caused breaches in the Industrial Canal just beyond, flooding the area.\nwww.makeitrightnola.org\nGloria Guy and her grandsons Kenneth, left, and Tony chat with Pitt on the steps of their new home, designed by the local firm Concordia Architecture &amp;amp; Planning. Before Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward had the highest percentage of home ownership in all of New Orleans.\nDanish company Kompan donated a solar-powered digital playground to the neighborhood. \"It's the most technologically advanced playground in the world,\" says Tom Grover, the firm's American president. \"A playground has a vital purpose: It brings people together.\"\n\"There's still a long way to go,\" says Pitt. \"There's a community to be rebuilt and schools and health care.\"\nA home by New Orleans-based Billes Architecture reflects features requested by the residents: large porches, open kitchens and abundant light. Like all the houses to be built by Make It Right, it was set off the ground to withstand future flooding.\nThe actor sits near a second house designed by Graft. \"It's about fairness,\" he says. \"Fairness for all. People must know that their houses are still going to be here and that they're going to be safe.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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