Global Green USA -- in partnership with Brad Pitt -- has been running an architectural contest. People from around the world are competing to design the best, cheapest, most efficient, most sustainable 12-unit apartment building, to be built in post-Katrina New Orleans. Hundreds of entries have been winnowed down to six finalists.
Vote for your favorite.
Global Green head honcho Matt Petersen sent us this dispatch, discussing the contest and his latest trip to New Orleans. Enjoy.
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I returned to New Orleans last week to meet the six finalists selected by our design jury (with guidance and stringent review from our technical jury, made up of representatives of Global Green USA, AIA, and the U.S. Green Building Council).
It was exciting and edifying to meet the teams. They dedicated so much time and energy to coming up with innovative ideas for the design, meeting aggressive green-building and affordable-housing goals. Some had ideas like a solar barge or river turbines to power the buildings, as the site is adjacent to the Mississippi River.
Now they have to prove that their designs and green features are feasible and affordable.