Brad Pitt backs New Orleans plans

Brad Pitt is sponsoring a competition to find "green" designs for rebuilding parts of New Orleans hit by Hurricane Katrina. BBC News reports that Pitt is backing campaign group Global Green USA on the project to find environmentally-friendly designs. The self-confessed architecture junkie wants ideas that make the city "better" yet respect "historical traditions". Brad Pitt, who will lead a jury of community leaders and architects, said rebuilding work in New Orleans was "long overdue". He said the competition's aim was to "kick off the rebuilding effort. he added "We could possibly build something that was better and took into account the historical traditions of the city and the voices of the people and turn this into some kind of good".