His passion project! Brad Pitt rallied support for a cause close to his heart.
The Oscar nominee, 55, spoke at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 9, to advocate for architect Peter Zumthor’s new building project at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
“I love architecture, so I’m excited to be here,” Pitt said, according to Curbed editor Alissa Walker. “There’s no way to understand [Zumthor’s] work form a computer-generated image. You really have to stand in them to see his mastery of light and shadow.”
Diane Keaton also lent her voice on Tuesday to support LACMA’s $650 million redesign endeavors, spearheaded by Zumthor. “This architect, Mr. Zumthor, has been honored with 16 awards,” the Because I Said So actress, 73, explained, per Walker. “So, if you were an actor, that means you would have won 14 Academy Awards, which is never going to happen. So I think we’re sitting pretty.”
Thanks to the A-listers, the city set the project into motion, a decision just as momentous as when moment that the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, designed by Frank Gehry, was approved.
The Inglorious Bastards actor has always enjoyed having architecture as a hobby. In June 2008, he designed a “socially conscious” five-star hotel complex in Dubai, posting 800 rooms and various luxurious amenities. “Whilst acting is my career, architecture is my passion. Selecting this development as my first major construction project has been a simple decision,” he told The Telegraph in June 2008 of his “environmentally-friendly” building. “I’m really into architecture, structure and design. Give me anything and I’ll design it. I’m a bit nutty with it.”
Pitt went on to participate in efforts to rebuild 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, an area of the city that had been destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
