WATCH: Demolition Begins On New Orleans Home Owned By Pitt's Foundation

By Jason Hall

October 14, 2020

Demolition has begun on a home owned by Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation in New Orleans.

NOLA.com shared a live video from the Lower 9th War on Tuesday, where the Make It Right development underwent an emergency tear down.

Last week, the city of New Orleans posted a "Notice of Emergency Demolition" on the vacant home, which is located at 1826 Reynes Street, claiming the building was "in imminent danger of collapse and/or threat to life," NOLA.com reports.

Pitt's Make It Right Foundation is a nonprofit with a focus on providing affordable housing to New Orleans families displaced during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, many of the homes have since experienced construction problems, such as leaks and rotting wood, that made them uninhabitable.

Demolition has begun on one of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right developement homes that the city had scheduled for emergency tear down. The houses were meant to provide affordable, ecological housing for the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood that was ruined by Hurricane Katrina flooding. But some have been beset by design and construction flaws.

Posted by NOLA.com on Tuesday, October 13, 2020

The Lower Ninth Ward house was designed by British architect Sir David Adjaye, the first Black architect to receive the 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, who is one of several "starchitects" picked by the foundation to design homes in the area. The home was built in 2011 and sold for $130,000, before being vacated two years later, NOLA reports.

The home was lifted off the ground and featured a large rooftop terrace that can be accessed from the second story. Photos shared by NOLA show the building has been boarded up, has siding peeled off or become blackened with rot and has part of its roof sagging due to deteriorated supporting posts.

Another Make It Right home located on Derbigny Street was demolished in 2018 after neighbor complaints, NOLA reports.

Other notable architects who were involved with the nonprofit include Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Shigeru Ban, KieranTimberlake and Alejandro Aravena.

Photo: Getty Images

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