The Globe and Mail

One of the best international stories currently making the rounds in the international press has to do with movie star Brad Pitt's outstanding housing initiative in post-Katrina New Orleans. It's partly a tale of interesting residential design. But what Mr. Pitt is up to is also an example of good, realistic urban citizenship. Architecture fans may remember that designers from around the world swooped down on New Orleans in the wake of the 2005 hurricane disaster, bringing bold and occasionally visionary plans for renewing the devastated parts of the city. The practical results of all that cogitation, however, were virtually nil. That's when Mr. Pitt decided to do something down to earth.