A Sukkah is a temporary structure erected every fall for Sukkot – the annual feast of tabernacles – the sukkah offers students a place to pray, study, eat, sleep, dwell, and socialize.
In the spring of 2009, North Studio worked with Wesleyan’s Center for Jewish Life to create a new university sukkah. In response, North Studio designed and built a structure to harmonize with the surrounding landscape – to be inviting, approachable, and intriguing to anyone walking by – while
simultaneously maintaining the “intentional sacred space” and privacy expected for the sukkah’s religious users.
Beyond the requirements for its religious use, the Wesleyan Sukkah also needed to accommodate 50 people, withstand outdoor exposure, repeated assembly and disassembly, and store easily.
The final design is sited at the top of a hill at the center of campus that is both serene and social. The Sukkah’s simplicity of construction and ephemeral tectonics reinforce its historical ties to nomadic huts, while its explicit impermanence encourages both introspection on the fragility of human life and an awareness of the vastness of the built and natural world of which it is a part.
Watch to learn more about the Wesleyan Sukkah:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH_rQV4-cio[/youtube]
Read more about the project in the Wesleyan Connection:
“Jewish Community Celebrates Holiday in Student-Designed WesSukkah” (9/22/09)
“WesSukkah Dedicated Oct. 3” (10/8/09)