Archinect - News

Making it right: Brad Pitt's foundation settles for $20.5 million in faulty post-Katrina homes lawsuit

2022-08-18T15:06:00-04:00

A settlement has been reached in the yearslong saga surrounding Brad Pitt’s Make it Right Foundation and residents of New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward.

NOLA.com is reporting that the foundation will pay a total of $20.5 million in the form of individual $25,000 reimbursements available to any plaintiffs covered by the class action suit, which was first initiated in 2018.

The foundation’s attorneys did not immediately comment on the outcome of the highly-publicized case, which stems from flawed designs, faulty construction techniques, rotting building materials, and unsafe living conditions documented in nearly all of the 109 total homes built between 2008 and 2015 through the foundation. (A mere 6 of which are still considered to be in “reasonably good shape,” according to a January report from University of Illinois urban geographer Judith Keller.)

Previously on Archinect: Brad Pitt's foundation facing lawsuit for post-Katrina homes amidst reports they are falling apart

“This is one of ...

New Orleans' $14.5 billion levee system seems to have worked against Hurricane Ida

2021-08-30T15:45:00-04:00

The $14.5 billion flood-protection system built around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina seems to have succeeded at keeping the city from going underwater again.

The abject failure of the levee system during Hurricane Katrina was the primary cause of the devastation that eventually cost the city a minimum of 1,800 lives and over $81 billion in property damage. Ida represents the first test of the system since it was completed in 2018.

The levees were thought to have an abbreviated shelf-life thanks to rising sea levels that would require significant upgrades within the next four years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led project was one of the largest infrastructure builds in history next to the Hoover Dam and Erie Canal.

Meanwhile, a protested new natural gas power plant south of Lake Pontchartrain that was supposed to protect the city’s electrical system has failed. The storm was so powerful it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. The New York Times has more on the performance of the multibillion-dollar levee system here.

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation sues its former executive director

2021-04-12T19:06:00-04:00

On Friday, the Make It Right Foundation sued its former executive director, Tom Darden III, along with the former treasurer and other officials, accusing them of mismanaging the $65 million project between 2007 and 2016. The suit, filed in in Civil District Court, also alleges that Darden and the others misled fellow Make It Right officials, including Pitt.

The legal saga around the Make It Right Foundation continues: after facing a lawsuit of their own for delivering improperly constructed homes as part of the initiative's high-profile post-Hurricane Katrina housing initiative in New Orleans and then suing the architect responsible for the flawed designs, the foundation is now reportedly taking aim at former executive director Tom Darden III and other leadership team members.

Previously on Archinect: David Adjaye-designed house for Brad Pitt's Make It Right initiative to be demolished

David Adjaye-designed house for Brad Pitt's Make It Right initiative to be demolished

2020-10-09T14:06:00-04:00

Another building constructed through Brad Pitt's Make It Right affordable housing initiative in New Orleans is in trouble: after complaints and lawsuits over "shoddy construction" of a number of houses were brought forward in recent years, leading to the demolition of one rain-damaged and rotting 7-year-old house in 2018, now the house designed by acclaimed architect David Adjaye, who just won this year's Royal Gold Medal, has been ordered to be torn down as well.

Previously on Archinect: Brad Pitt, Make It Right face lawsuit for "shoddy construction"

"The house at 1826 N. Reynes St. [...] was completed and sold by Make It Right in 2011 for $130,000," reports Dough MacCash for Nola. "Two years later, the buyer sold it back to the non-profit for a similar amount. When new, it was an audacious-looking home. The upper story of the house was an open-air patio protected from rain by a roof supported by vertical wooden posts. Those posts are now so deteriorated that the roof has partially...

Brad Pitt, Make It Right face lawsuit for "shoddy construction"

2019-10-26T07:00:00-04:00

According to Nola, "Brad Pitt will remain as a defendant in a lawsuit that alleges shoddy construction of some of the homes his foundation helped build in the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina, an Orleans Parish judge has ruled."

In the midst of the allegations, Pitt and other members of the Make It Right Foundation requested to be removed from the suit that was filed by two homeowners, as they felt they could not be held personally responsible for the construction of the homes.

The actor's foundation built over 100 affordable homes in response to Katrina in an effort to show how good design could help address the threats of natural disaster. The two homeowners filed their suit against Make It Right in September of last year, claiming "deficient construction that caused mold, poor air quality, structural failures, electrical malfunctions, plumbing mishaps, rotting wood and faulty heating, ventilation and cooling." It was during this same time that the foundation sued their arc...

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation sues architect for flawed designs

2018-09-20T13:39:00-04:00

Actor Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation has sued the architect of scores of homes the nonprofit sold to Lower 9th Ward residents who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina. Make it Right itself was recently sued over the homes’ shoddy construction. The new lawsuit against local architect John C. Williams was filed Tuesday in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, recently facing a lawsuit of their own on delivering poorly constructed homes, is now suing John C. Williams, the architect responsible for many of the homes sold to New Orleans residents. Repairs to the water damaged homes caused by flawed designs could cost over $20 million.

Brad Pitt's foundation facing lawsuit for post-Katrina homes amidst reports they are falling apart

2018-09-04T14:21:00-04:00

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward in 2005, Brad Pitt set up the Make It Right Foundation to aid in the rebuilding efforts. The non-profit charity, promoting energy efficient technology and high quality architecture, promised LEED Platinum-certified structures designed by star architects—like the homes designed by Frank Gehry—to help house families in one of the city's hardest hit areas.

Thirteen years since the hurricane's passing, the foundation has struggled to deliver on its pledge and is now facing a potential lawsuit over the conditions of the now falling apart homes. Reports from residents include roofs caving in, wood rotting, and walls collapsing, as well as claims of severe headaches and other health problems caused by electrical and plumbing issues.

"Essentially, Make It Right was making a lot of promises to come back and fix the homes that they initially sold these people and have failed to do so. We have some people who have gotten sick, o...

14 to 1: Post-Katrina Architecture by the Numbers

2016-07-13T15:44:00-04:00

The thousands of new old houses in New Orleans reveal the ethos of a people in a place nearly destroyed. New Orleanians have embraced their city’s architectural heritage as they’ve rebuilt for an uncertain future.

What does post-Katrina architecture look like in New Orleans? And what does it reveal about its society? In their survey in Places, Richard Campanella and Cassidy Rosen discover that historical styles are 14 times more popular than contemporary styles in the rebuilt city, despite the focus of media coverage on experimental projects like Make It Right. The retro revival pays homage to 19th-century New Orleans and a past that has become both a refuge from the present and a cicerone to the future.

The architect who wants New Orleans learn a lesson or two from Amsterdam

2015-09-03T14:54:00-04:00

David Waggonner is an urban and environmental architect. Since Hurricane Katrina decimated his city, he’s been focusing on urban stormwater management, mapping out designs for New Orleans that would mimic the way Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam deal with water. In the Netherlands, people “invite water into the city,” meaning water is visible everywhere. [...] “In New Orleans, we’ve hidden and squandered the asset.”

Related on Archinect and our sister site Bustler:

The Hurricane Katrina Cottages: where are they now?

2015-08-13T14:49:00-04:00

‘"It’s hard to think about ways to drain the swamp when alligators are biting your ass.’”

Immediately after a natural disaster, most residents want to get things back to normal, even if that "normal" wasn't particularly ideal. The story of the Katrina Cottages, a series of 400 to 800 square foot residences that would provide temporary relief housing in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and also act as "seed" housing for safer, long-term neighborhoods, is a nuanced and occasionally frustrating look into the political dimensions of recovery.

For more on disaster and recovery efforts:

After Katrina, Tulane's architecture school pivots into a community builder

2015-08-07T12:53:00-04:00

[Tulane's] architecture program, established in 1894, is one of the country's oldest, but before Hurricane Katrina it was a little stuffy, known, if anything, for historic preservation, and not particularly prestigious. After the storm, the school reinvented itself as a destination for students and faculty interested in building in low-income neighborhoods and fragile environments.

More post-Katrina context in New Orleans:

New Orleans public housing 10 years after Hurricane Katrina

2015-06-22T20:39:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development embraced the trapezoid, dubbed Iberville-Treme, along with an exhaustive New Orleans plan that called for 2,314 apartments constructed within 54 months. Yet after 48 months — four years — the work in New Orleans is far from done. If construction continues at the same pace in coming years, the promised 2,314 apartments won’t be complete until 2026.

Controversy surrounds plans to replace the golf courses of New Orlean's City Park

2015-02-25T18:43:00-05:00

You can't see it now among the overgrown cart paths and weed-choked lagoons but a championship golf course will soon rise in City Park [...] City Park's long-awaited, oft-delayed $24.5 million golf complex finally broke ground and will one day be a boon for the local golf community.

Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune gushes over the slated-development and its 7,300-yard Rees Jones-designed course. Boasting "a new clubhouse, driving range and practice facility," project-designers hope it will attract the attention of the Zurich Classic. But not everyone is happy about the plans: a Change.org petition has already attracted almost 1,200 signatories hoping to shut down the project.

The sixth-largest park in the US, City Park was unique among the country's great public parks in that it was largely self-supported. The park hosted three 18-hole golf courses in addition to an amusement park, botanical gardens, several sports stadiums and the New Orleans Museum of Art. But when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, many of the facilities were destroyed. In the wake of the storm, the park quickly became overgrown.

For some, the post-Katrina park is an improvement on its older, privatized existence. According to the petition, this "naturally reclaimed urban oasis" has "been creati...

High-rise proposal in Lower 9th Ward could bring much needed development, but at what social cost?

2014-04-02T14:38:00-04:00

The plan’s backers say it represents a rare chance at economic revitalization for the neighborhood. Its opponents say it would destroy the fabric of Holy Cross, and might represent the first step toward changing the traditionally low-rise New Orleans waterfront into something very different [...] “The argument is that the Lower Ninth Ward has to take what it can get,” says DeBacher. “We believe that we deserve—as any community deserves—good development, not just any development.”