sukkah
With forgotten materials, we and our friends at Cedar Architecture created this temporary place to help you reorient yourself.
We focused on parallels between the historical Israelite experiences which sukkahs evoke, and the contemporary experiences of pandemic and polarization. We sought to create a place that is welcoming and inspiring, while conveying impermanence, disorientation, ambiguity, and displacement. The result allowed people to individually and collectively reenact loss or trauma, yet at the same time re-center themselves, reorient their focus, and redirect their path.
The multi-faceted experience is a sequence of moods and motivations. This is not an object study; it is all about people moving to and through the architecture in an ever-shifting relationship between "it" and "you":
That choreography might have been the only experience were this music or literature. As architects, we delighted in watching how the public interplayed with that - some catching themselves as they entered the official exit and carefully deciphering the "right" way, others discovering their "error" late in their experience and then either retreating to correct their path, or just moving along. The majority of people missed the subtle cues but reveled in the big moment of looking up, and a few folks were totally oblivious, charging through the space without realizing they could have had a moment of delight if they'd paused. We believe each person received that which they were ready for.
We focused on parallels between the historical Israelite experiences which sukkahs evoke, and the contemporary experiences of pandemic and polarization. We sought to create a place that is welcoming and inspiring, while conveying impermanence, disorientation, ambiguity, and displacement. The result allowed people to individually and collectively reenact loss or trauma, yet at the same time re-center themselves, reorient their focus, and redirect their path.
The multi-faceted experience is a sequence of moods and motivations. This is not an object study; it is all about people moving to and through the architecture in an ever-shifting relationship between "it" and "you":
- Attract: I see where I want to be. The height of the tower and its improbable materials beckons. An opening/porch becomes a destination.
- Approach: This is not the way in. As you near the porch, you realize the path is obstructed with plantings, and subtle signage points out that this is an exit. That which seemed clear is suddenly ambiguous - prompting the philosophical few to ask, "Is there more than one truth? If not, why isn't it apparent to all?"
- Wander: Moving away again, the walls are rough and unfinished, with little to attract you. Do you stay focused or become distracted? Some never made it inside.
- Enter: Finally, a narrow gap into a darker space admits you. The interior walls are midnight blue, like the night sky. People naturally look down and focus inward as they are compressed and turned, twice.
- Arrive: A bright yellow space almost forces you to look up. Your reward is a cascade of 3 white Stars of David framing the sky. Some people lie down. This literal reorientation of the head or body helps reorient the mind and spirit and creates time to reflect. The opening in the south wall is filtered by grasses, giving you a sense of enclosure and separateness while simultaneously re-establishing your relationship with others.
- Depart: You pass under the filtered light of the soft bamboo overhang, brushing your scalp as you navigate between the grasses. This biophilic experience is the final cleansing as you re-emerge, possibly changed.
That choreography might have been the only experience were this music or literature. As architects, we delighted in watching how the public interplayed with that - some catching themselves as they entered the official exit and carefully deciphering the "right" way, others discovering their "error" late in their experience and then either retreating to correct their path, or just moving along. The majority of people missed the subtle cues but reveled in the big moment of looking up, and a few folks were totally oblivious, charging through the space without realizing they could have had a moment of delight if they'd paused. We believe each person received that which they were ready for.
240.372.0185
scott@knu.design
scott@knu.design