Brad Pitt - Making it Right

Brad and Angelina - www.MakeItRightNola.org are Breaking yet more new green ground in New Orleans — Families from the Lower 9th Ward can now choose to build a duplex in the Make It Right neighborhood.

Until now, only single family homes were available and being built on the site devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Fourteen acclaimed local, national and international architects volunteered their time, met with the community and potential homeowners and applied their experience and creativity to come up with high quality designs that push the envelope.

Make It Right Architects Break New Green Ground with Duplex Designs

While each of the 14 duplex designs is unique, the architects tackled some common problems and arrived at innovative solutions that could change the way multi-family homes are built:

Flexibility – A number of the designs feature interchangeable floor plans that allow the families to change the size and configuration of the two homes as their family size, needs or economic situation changes.

Integration with the Street – Increasing the elevation of the homes made them safer from flooding, but interrupted the connectedness between the porch and life on the street –a relationship valued by the Lower 9th Ward community. To solve this problem, several architects created midpoint landings or stoops in the stairways where the family could gather.

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Landscaping as a design and energy element – Several architects incorporated landscaping into their design of these solar-powered, highly energy efficient homes to maximize exposure to sun and shade and cut heating and cooling costs. And because outdoor living is such a core part of life in the Lower 9th Ward, many of the designs include courtyards, interior gardens, and social use of the area under the elevated house.

Affordability — To cut the cost, but not the quality of these duplexes, several of the architects, stacked the houses one on top of the other to reduce the “footprint” of the home and simplify construction.

Shown in article: http://makeitrightnola.org/mir_SUB.php?section=homes&page=duplex&mySub=atelier