Four Years After the Levees Broke in NOLA

Tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The city has yet to fully recover.


A while back, one of our favorite celebs -- Brad Pitt (currently starring in Quenton Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds) -- started a mission to "make it right."

After meeting with residents of the Lower 9th Ward, an area hardest hit by Katrina, Pitt worked with Global Green to sponsor an architecture competition with a goal of generating ideas for rebuilding sustainably.

Pitt then went on to form the Make It Right Foundation, an organization dedicated to building safe and healthy homes without sacrificing design.

Below are some examples of the type of homes resulting from this effort: All photos above by Harry Benson for Architectural Digest

The goal is to build 150 homes by next year. (More than 4,000 homes were lost.) The first 25 single family homes have already been completed and are now home to formerly displaced 9th Ward residents. All offer high design and are energy-efficient, solar powered, and storm-resistant.

Photo source: Make It Right Foundation

If you would like to learn more and/or donate to this worthy effort, please go here.

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Film Producer's Paradise: Eco-Friendly Retreat in Bali

The East Bali vacation home of american film producer/director Rob Cohen is featured in the August 2009 issue of Architectural Digest. Cohen, who brought us movies like xXx: State of the Union and The Fast and the Furious, acquired the property while on holiday with his wife and decided to build an environmentally friendly retreat there.

The home consists of several elevated pavilions -- including a living/dining pavilion and two guesthouses -- built almost entirely from recycled woods and bamboo.

Pictured below is the master bedroom pavillion, which has a view of the Indian Ocean as well as the sacred volcano Mount Agung and Seraya mountain range.

Well, we always thought only people in the movies live like this. Turns out that it's actually people who make movies that get to live like this. Can't blame them, though. This is truly paradise.

FYI, this is a great issue of AD, so be sure to pick up a copy. For more information and photos, check out AD's article here. Photography by Tim Street-Porter.