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Sukkah City Arrives in Union Square

By Sara Jacobson - September 14, 2010

in Events

Blo Puf.

As proud partners in the Sukkah City design competition, we've been delighted to witness the program grow from its beginning, to inspiration, and now into creation of the twelve winning designs. We announced the winners back in August, and construction of the twelve temporary structures is underway at this very moment in Brooklyn at the Gowanus Studio Space. On September 19th and 20th, an ephemeral village of the structures goes on view for the public in New York's Union Square, with one design chosen by New Yorkers to remain standing for the week of September 20.

Sukkah City is in its inaugural year as a competition challenging designers to address the Sukkah, often thought of simply as a hut. That hut is a traditional shelter that serves as a symbol of the spirituality inherent in where the natural world meets the built world, in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Entrants had some broad points of inspiration to work with in creating their interpretations of the Sukkah, as it serves as a symbol of the harvest and transience vs. permanence. As the Sukkah City site describes, it is an elemental space in which to "share meals, entertain, sleep, and rejoice."

Shim Sukkah.

Sticking closely to this elemental concept, the twelve winning designers went with basic, often natural materials: rattan, grass, wire, cardboard, hemp, and wooden slats. The resulting forms and seeds of inspiration vary widely among the winners, chosen by a panel of judges including Ron Arad, Steven Heller, Thom Mayne, and our own Allan Chochinov. Material was a popular starting point for many. Double layers of wood veneer curl away from each other in response to humidity (P.YGROS.C, by THEVERYMANY of Brooklyn), a giant log balances atop glass walls (Log, by Kyle May and Scott Abrahams, New York), and cardboard signs purchased from homeless serve as slats on a house frame (Sukkah of Signs, by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, Oakland, California).

LOG.

Sukkah of Signs.

P.YGROS.C.

We won't really know until we can hang out in them this coming weekend, but we are intrigued by a few highlights. In Tension, by SO-IL in Brooklyn, stands out for its humility as a tented kit with crossbeam supports and netting stretched over, standing by its own tautness. The Shim Sukkah, by tinder, tinker of Idaho, appeals to our scrappy & resourceful side: it turns the modest shim into a building block. Also intriguing is Bittertang of Brooklyn's appeal to the senses with Blo Puf and its eucalyptus-perfumed interior. And the Star Cocoon, by Volkan Alkanoglu of Los Angeles, stands out as the most unique response form-wise, stepping away from nature's imperfections with a precise, curvaceous structure of bent cane tubes and rattan.

We're excited to experience the Sukkah village ourselves on September 19 and 20, and if you're in NYC, go check 'em out and see which you'd most like to "share meals, entertain, sleep, and rejoice in." Then vote for your favorite here.

In Tension.

Star Cocoon.

Repetition Meets Difference, by Matthias Karch.

Single Thread, by Matter Practice.

Time/Timeless, by Peter Sagar.

Gathering, by Dale Suttle, So Sugita, and Ginna Nguyen.

Fractured Bubble, by Henry Grossman and Babak Bryan.

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Yelena

12 years ago

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The most interesting thing is if you look in actual Torah, all these laws in the Orthodox world are actually not present. Where are they found? In the Talmud. A book with so many errors it is shocking that people value it over the actual written true Torah.
Look into what the Torah actually says about sukkoth.

With that said, these designs certainly look amazing. If ever I'm rich I'll think about making a cool looking sukkah. I think this would make it easier for people to start keeping the holiday (also given that it is built right according to what the Torah says).

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Abigayil

14 years ago

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I understand what you are saying Phil, but David is right. Yes we obey halakha. But no one needs to be making such a hilul HaShem with snyde remarks. So they made some errors. But they tried. The fact is that those same desgins could be fixed and modified to be kasher. Instead of just shooting the artists, designers, and architects down, we need to recognize it for what it is: a largely non-Jewish or non-observant attempt to do something Jewish for the city, and if there are some hiccups along the way, so what? That can be fixed the next go round. You live and you learn.

All the comments I kept hearing from people all day about the kashruth of the sukkoth there was really overkill. What were they expecting? If the competition would have been limited to Jewish entrants who were all observant, this wouldn't have been the big event it was.

There were rules, and there were errors. So what? Are any of you planning on buying one of the Sukkoth? Then complain!

Abigayil
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Phil

14 years ago

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David,

Aviva's point is that these may be works of art but they are not valid Sukkah's, which are defined by Jewish law based upon the Torah and the Talmud, not by artist's interpretations. It would be like saying that an energy-inefficient home is "green" just because an artist says that it is. The Rabbi's of today are certainly not going to adapt Halacha to conform to the ideas that pop into the minds of artists.

Orthodox Jews have faithfully kept the laws of the Sukkot Holiday for over 3,300 years; conservative/reform/reconstructionist interest in Sukkot is a welcome but rather recent phenomenon.

- Phil

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David

14 years ago

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Aviva,
Why would you want to make a diminishing and somewhat insulting comment to artists who bring their creative works that share Jewish traditions with the larger culture? What is this "whoopie doo" comment ?
It is important to keep Jewish law, but not important to respect other human beings?
David
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dan

14 years ago

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Aviva,
I think some of them might challenge the boundaries of the design concepts the rabbis in the time of the talmud were dealing with. As such, even if they aren't strictly speaking halachic, they are fascinating from a halachic standpoint as they force the rabbis of today to adapt halacha to fit these new shapes.
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Richard Fink

14 years ago

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Looking at the drawings the only thing that may not be strictly kosher is that the roof on most do not seem to be principally covered in vegetation. There is not one Jewish Law, there is Jewish law as interpreted by the ultra-orthodox, by the orthodox, by modern orthodox, by conservatives, reform, reconstructionist Jews. So some may not meet a Chabad's criteria but would be fine under Reform. The Sukkot are inventive and fun and wonderful to see.
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Aviva Sieradski-Fort

14 years ago

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There's a major problem with most of these sukkot. They are not fit for using as actual sukkot as per Jewish law. Nope, not kosher.

So whooptie doo, most people just made nice huts. Mazel tov. The real talent would have been doing it as per Jewish law.

http://www.aish.com/h/su/dits/48966756.html - basic laws
http://www.aish.com/h/su/dits/48969031.html - advanced laws
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