Brad Pitt is kind.

Hollywood star Brad Pitt has joined American architects to urge New Orleans to think green, showcasing a series of environmentally friendly housing projects they hope to build in the hurricane-hit city reports Reuters.

The boyfriend of actress turned U.N. goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie said he was shocked at the scale of the destruction: "No I was not prepared for the scale, I have to say, we've seen the pictures on television and they're every bit as devastating as they appear but what's more devastating is that you can literally start at one spot in the 9th ward and drive for a couple of hours and you'll see exactly that same devastation and it's a bit shocking, it's a daunting job but we'll start one building at a time and talking to the people in the street there's a great verve and a great spirit to reclaim their homes and to establish their communities again. So by that sheer will alone it will happen."

PITT announced the finalists in the design contest he is sponsoring in New Orleans, Louisiana. In April (06) the TROY star came up with the idea to help rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina and teamed with environmental group Global Green USA to sponsor a design competition. Five designs were selected Friday by a group of architects and city residents from over 100 entries that were submitted. The designs were meant to provide more environmentally friendly architecture for the rebuilding of New Orleans, including metal roofing and recycled materials. The ultimate winner will be named in August (06). Pitt said he was inspired to create the project after watching coverage of the disaster.

"Brad Pitt and I met last September at the Clinton Global Initiative and talked about what we wanted to do here individually and potentially collectively," said Matt Peterson of Global Green USA.

"Very little was being done and I wanted to help out and wanted to do better, Katrina was certainly an indictment we could do better," Pitt said.

"There is a real opportunity here to lead the nation in a direction it needs to be going, and that is building efficiently," he said.

Mr Mayne, who is designing a Central Park-style Jazz Park for the centre of New Orleans, argued that housing could be aesthetically modern.

Ms Dashiell said she thought her neighbourhood, on the edge of the Lower Ninth Ward area most devastated by Katrina, would embrace an efficient new style. "People don't like change," she said. "But if there ever was a time for it, this is it."