The whole world wants to know about the rumors of a "Brangelina" wedding in Namibia, not to mention the chances that the first biological child of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie might be born in Africa next month.

Brad Pitt attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 26, 2006. Pitt, in a statement Thursday, April 20, 2006, called for people to submit proposals for an environmentally friendly design competition he is sponsoring to rebuild parts of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina. [AP]

But all the publicity-shy actor wants to talk about is his new architecture project ¡ª a design competition to encourage eco-friendly rebuilding in areas of New Orleans hardest hit by hurricane Katrina.

Would Pitt care to comment about imminent fatherhood? "Absolutely not," he laughs. But he will go as far as to say he is "doing well" and has had a warm welcome in Namibia, where local authorities are doing their best to keep the paparazzi away from Pitt, his heavily pregnant partner Jolie, and her two adopted children Maddox and Zahara since they arrived there earlier this month.

"Namibia's just a country we're very fond of. It's a beautiful land and hospitable people and a place that we want to be for the time being," he said Thursday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from the southern African nation.

Pitt was much more forthcoming on his love of architecture and his plans to sponsor a design competition and lead its jury.

"Our goal is to kick off the rebuilding effort. It's certainly long overdue and I can only go from the reports that we get ... that it's behind, absolutely. People are frustrated," Pitt said.

"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," he added.

Pitt, who has not visited New Orleans since Katrina struck on Aug. 29, described his reaction to watching the scenes of the devastation on television.

"Truthfully, I dare say we witnessed, to our shame, the fact that there's a portion of our society that's being dismissed and that needs to be rectified and I thought that was a real casualty overall from the event."

Pitt announced Thursday that he is teaming up on the project with Global Green USA, a national environmental organization that is already providing technical assistance in green standards for 10,000 buildings in New Orleans.

"This competition captures some of our best qualities as a society, our ingenuity and our goodwill and no idea is too small," he said.

The jury review will take place before the first anniversary of Katrina, which struck in late August, and six finalists will then work with local neighborhoods on more detailed proposals for environmentally sound buildings.

"Our quest of course and our goal is to actually implement them and to get them built and hopefully give a kick-start to a much needed redevelopment process," Pitt said.

The idea for the project came up because "historically through these competitions great innovative ideas have been born" Pitt explained, citing the example of the Vietnam war memorial.

Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA, said Pitt had "really educated himself not just on architecture, but green design as well."

"We'll probably have a vice-chair as well on the jury to help Brad. There will be a lot of experienced people on there as well as Brad," he added.

Pitt said he has always been interested in architecture. "I am a bit of a junkie. It's inexplicable really. I believe we creatures are very susceptible to our surroundings. They can actually improve our mode of life and I personally am very affected ... when I walk through an intelligent building, it inspires me. To me it's like walking through a piece of art and, coupling that now with the green movement of the smarter architecture ¡ª of the healthier buildings with great design ¡ª is a very exciting prospect to me."

He expressed great admiration for the Canadian-born American architect Frank Gehry. "My love for architecture led me to beating on Frank's door and he graciously let me in. He's a favorite of mine and full of great innovation and great wisdom. He's a great friend. I am very fond of that man," he said.

Pitt, 42, and Jolie, who costarred in the 2005 film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," have rented all 14 rooms and suites at the Burning Shores resort, a luxury boutique hotel on Long Beach north of Walvis Bay.

The actress has traveled to Africa frequently to shoot films and as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. She spent several weeks in Namibia in 2002 while shooting the film "Beyond Borders."