New York – It was a surprise hit on the cultural roster of a city that may be the most culturally busy city in the nation.
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And even though the Sukkah City architectural competition in New York [first reported here at VIN News] is being dismantled this week, look for Sukkah City next year in a town near you.
“Our goal is to fan it out across the nation next year to 15 cities,” said Roger Bennett, who put together the sukkah competition with writer Josh Foer.
More than 620 participants from 43 countries submitted designs for sukkahs, the outdoor booths Jews build on the Sukkot holiday. A dozen finalists, chosen by an expert panel, were constructed for two days in Manhattan’s Union Square Park. Thousands of visitors wandered through the sukkahs; more than 17,000 voters cast ballots for their favorite.
The winning design — “Fractured Bubble” by Henry Grosman and Babak Bryan, which one reporter described as an “exploding coconut” — was left up alone for the duration of the holiday ending Friday.
Who would have thought a bunch of wild and crazy huts would generate such attention?
The project became a media darling. Reporters from The Wall Street Journal to The Los Angeles Times gushed and cooed over the cutting-edge sukkahs, all of which had to conform to halachah, or Jewish law: more than two walls; a roof made of organic material that provides more shade than sun but allows for views of the stars; no taller than 20 cubits but higher than 10 handbreadths.
Read the full story at The JTA.org
Video below from the event.
Union Square’s High-Concept Sukkahs from Jewish Forward on Vimeo.
is that sukkah kosher with Dofan Akumos? Maybe Im not seeing it right and the walls are striaght but covered with this straw that is hiding the straight walls??
most of these sukos are NOT kosher= they are not succos at all!
This was an architectural design competition and not a “kosher sukka” competition because otherwise the designs would be restricted to being uncreative and simple. The real sukkos that Jews used in the desert were not perfectly symmetrical plywood or nylon boxes held up by nails and screws anyways.
Actually, the architects complied with a set of criteria that were supposed to make all the sukkot kosher. Can’t say if they succeeded. What they came up with were largely impractical, but a lot of fun, and on balance, a kiddush hashem.