Joshua Foer has just launched Sukkah City, a design competition challenging architects and designers to re-imagine the ancient form of the sukkah in a contemporary context. Twelve finalists will be selected and their work will be constructed in New York's Union Square, occupying the park from September 19th through the 20th. From the site:

Ostensibly the sukkah's religious function is to commemorate the temporary structures that the Israelites dwelled in during their exodus from Egypt, but it is also about universal ideas of transience and permanence as expressed in architecture. The sukkah is a means of ceremonially practicing homelessness, while at the same time remaining deeply rooted. It calls on us to acknowledge the changing of the seasons, to reconnect with an agricultural past, and to take a moment to dwell on--and dwell in--impermanence.

The competition is design-build, where the construction of each of the 12 structures will be the responsibility of each team (and funded by Sukkah City through a financial award). Nice. But you can start your own fun by visiting the competition website and exploring the intriguing rollover field of design constraints (screenshot below). Also very nice. Jury members are Michael Arad, Ron Arad, Rick Bell, Paul Goldberger, Steven Heller, Natalie Jeremijenko, Maira Kalman, Geoff Manaugh, Thom Mayne, Thomas de Monchaux, Ada Tolla, Adam Yarinsky, and Core77's Allan Chochinov.