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Sukka City NY Union Square, NYC, 2010 (Competition)

ABOUT

Our brick and concrete city houses provide us with a false sense of stability and security. The Sukkah, in contrast, is designed to evoke the ephemeral character of life, and remind us of our vulnerability. Dwelling in a Sukkah, one is exposed to the elements: the sun, the rain, and the night. The Sukkah itself transforms over the holiday, as its Schach wilts in the sun. 

Living in the city, we tend to forget to look up to the sky. To the extent that stars can be viewed in Manhattan, we want to make a Sukkah that draws one’s attention to the sky, not the city skyline.
We also want our Sukkah to be "Glatt Kosher", i.e. present a universal Sukkah experience to anyone, including Haredi Jews, requiring adherence to the extensive Sukkah Halachot, way beyond the minimal brief of the competition. This proves to be a difficult task, since the Halacha does not permit an opening in the roof which is more than three handbreadths wide. 

Our design proposes a Sukkah with four intertwined open-ended chimney-like structures, each with a window to the sky. The "chimneys" are skewed so that their openings fall above their inner walls, thereby providing continuous Schach for the floor. In this Sukkah, which has no per-se roof, the walls serve as "leaned Schach", whilst the required Halachic wall for the Sukkah is defined by the structural frame around its perimeter, raised to be more then one handbreadth in height.
 

INFO.

Status: Completed

Years: 2010

REED Lead Arch: Ram Eisenberg

Client: Reboot Studios,

Union Square Partnership

Competition Website

Sirkin 21, P.O.B 5602, Haifa 3105501, Israel.    Tel: +972-4-8679193  

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