Constructing Nature: a sukkah celebrating NYC street trees
Hariri and Hariri - Project Team: Gisue Hariri, Mojgan Hariri, Jenny Shoukimas, Nazpari Sotoudeh
Our Sukkah celebrates the ecology of New York City and informs visitors about the ‘natural’ world of their own urban habitat. Each ‘leaf’ is a 14” diameter acrylic disk whose shape is abstracted from the foliage of a common New York City street tree. The individual leaves combine to form a sheltering canopy, through which celebrants can enjoy the cool shade by day and view the stars by night. Once slotted and bolted together, these ‘leaves’ join to become a rigid space frame. Over this framework, garlands of “schach”, composed from the leaves of these actual trees, are draped -- reflecting the ambiguity, found the parks all over the city, between a ‘real’ and a ‘constructed’ nature.
Each year, as the sukkah is rebuilt by the community, the pavilion’s shape adapts to site specific spatial conditions and to the changing needs of its dwellers. While the components of the sukkah remain the same, its form evolves, embracing the holiday’s themes of temporality and continuity. This annual reconfiguration project becomes an integral ritual in the communal celebration of sukkot.
Each year, as the sukkah is rebuilt by the community, the pavilion’s shape adapts to site specific spatial conditions and to the changing needs of its dwellers. While the components of the sukkah remain the same, its form evolves, embracing the holiday’s themes of temporality and continuity. This annual reconfiguration project becomes an integral ritual in the communal celebration of sukkot.
