Pink Project served as the inaugural fund-raising event for the Make It Right initiative, an ambitious rebuilding program initiated by actor Brad Pitt. The goal of the program is to build 150 homes in Lower Ninth Ward.
“The words of one elderly man who is determined to return to New Orleans led to the name of our organization: he asked us, directly simply and profoundly, to help make it right. So that’s what we’re doing,” Pitt said when introducing the Make It Right initiative.
“We’re going to help to make it right with 150 sustainable, affordable houses—houses that stand out for their design both aesthetically and structurally, so that these people can live in beautiful safe structures that respect their spirit and provide a good quality of life,” he said.
“The heart and soul of New Orleans, specifically the people of the Lower 9th Ward, are paramount to this project”. As a visualization of the need, more than 400 triangles and squares wrapped in pink fabric were scattered across 15 blocks,symbolizing the lost homes.
The Pink project was triggered by an idea that struck Pitt on a film-shoot for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in New Orleans, when he saw a house swathed in pink fabric standing out in the green surrounding on the film set. He talked with the Los Angeles offices of the GRAFT architectural firm and the resulting concept was the Pink Project.
Pitt seeded the Make It Right effort with a pledge of $5 million as it was kicked off in December 2007. The Make It Right site tracks how many of the targeted 150 homes have being sponsored.
The city’s newspaper of record, the Times-Picayune, reported on 29 April 2009 that New Orleans civic activists and leaders were presenting Pitt with $150,000 to underwrite the construction of another new home under his Make It Right plan. As of that date, the Times-Picayune reported, 25 families were either living in homes built by the program or were scheduled to move into one being built.
Designed by:
Brad Pitt (initiator and designer), Graft (curator) - United States
