I also got my camera fixed this week. Yay! So I was able to practice taking pictures- mostly in my apartment- still need to work on remembering to take the camera with me. I also got a recorder, which makes a world of difference in conducting interviews. It was a huge relief to not have to be scrambling to take notes and I was able to focus on talking to my subjects. It was also really helpful for me to hear and remember the interview questions I asked.
I had a great time reporting this week's assignment but I'm a little frustrated with my writing. I didn't quite make deadline, which is supposed to be 12 hours after the event. I had a bit of a time lapse between going to the art studio at 5 p.m. and Union Square at 9.5o. During this time (meant for transcribing my interviews...) I decided to get drinks in the Village with some friends and then headed over to Union Square to watch the rest of the installation. It was really cool to see the crowds that the exhibit drew in Union Square around midnight! Here's the story....
NEW YORK- What may be built on top of a camel, cannot be made of food and must provide more shade than sunlight in the daytime?
Over the last five months teams of architects from around the world sought to find out by designing traditional Jewish huts called sukkahs, simultaneously exploring the parameters of ancient law and modern New York building code.
In its first year, Sukkah City is an architectural competition drawing over 600 entries from around the globe, 12 of which were installed Saturday night in Union Square and which will be auctioned off after a week long display to benefit Housing Works.
“There’s two sets of rules, one Jewish law, halacha, which has got a lot of whimsy, its like, ‘can be made out of the side of a whale, can be made in a tree,’ and then there’s the other law, the Department of Building of New York City. Its two sets of laws, both of which we treat as if they were given by God and the architects love the constraints,” said Roger Bennett, co-organizer of the competition and the founder of sponsoring organization Reboot.
Traditionally, the sukkah is a hut built by Orthodox Jews for the fall harvest festival of Sukkot and commemorating the wandering of the Israelites in the desert. The contest’s keeping with Jewish law was a challenge welcomed by the architects, who saw a chance to push the limits of innovation.
“When there are too many rules, there are no rules. There’s room for interpretation. The sukkah can be built on a river’s boat, but what is a river’s boat? A river’s boat is just a shell, a closed natural shape,” said Marc Fornes, a Brooklyn architect and finalist in the contest.
Fornes said his participation was part of research he is doing on complex geometries. He produced a network of nodes that he described as a sort of upside down tree with unique branches interwoven into three roots reaching towards the stars.
The piece is delicate, made of paper-thin strips of wood that it took volunteers ten days to assemble. The team, mostly twenty-something hipsters, worked frantically yet cautiously to dissemble and load Fornes fragile piece, which has no name, onto a truck for transport to Union Square on Saturday.
For young architects, the contest is a learning forum and a chance to work with some of the best in the field, including a panel of world-renowned jurors.
Mengchan Tang, who graduated from the University of Toronto’s school of architecture last year and now works in Manhattan, said he was excited for the chance to collaborate with Fornes, who is originally from France and is known for his innovation in conceptual design.
“This specific piece isn’t functionary, but it’s a manifestation of his idea; an experiment to see what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
Using architecture as a forum, the contest keeps in mind the mission of Reboot, an organization that Bennett says is trying to engage new generations in Jewish rituals.
The design team of Bobak Bryan and Henry Grosman explained how the Jewish law inspired them. One of the rules is that at night one must be able to see the stars from within the sukkah.
Their piece, titled ‘Fractured Bubble’ and made of plywood and hemp rope, was assembled by student volunteers for transport to Union Square, a place that despite being the heartbeat of downtown Manhattan, will become the forum for testing the rules of ancient Jewish law.
“In New York City you don’t really get to see the stars, but one of the things we were thinking about is how the city itself functions as the stars. If you can go somewhere and stop, which is really hard to do in New York, you can find that same sense of wonderment,” said Bryan.
“It’s kind of the same as being in the desert and looking at the stars and feeling really tiny,” added Grosman.
It’s an interesting interpretation of the rules, but pretty accurate judging by the crowds of people gathered in Union Square around midnight on Saturday and staring in wonder- not at the stars but at the architects and teams assembling their sukkahs.
The photos:
I didn't get lost!
BK.
This was one of the two sukkahs being prepared for transport from Gowanus Studio. It was super delicate but the architect still let me touch it! His name was Marc and he was French. Tres cool.
A view of Brooklyn through the "Fractured Bubble."
"Fractured Bubble" being loaded for transport to Union Square. This is also the photo that I decided to use with the story, mainly because the people give a sense of scale to the sukkah.
These flowers were the victims not only of my negligence but also photo experimentation ... Sorry mom.
Some art I bought in Union Square....
Where it all goes down.
And this is what Jim said....
Hi Rachel,
Everybody got off to a good start at finding their own events this week, getting in place and interviewing people. That's not always as easy as it sounds for students who are new to the practice.
Your piece is full of interesting observations, but the order is very difficult to follow.
Your photo was clear, with a simple juxtaposition of the people vs. the sukkah, but your story left me wanting to see more, and to see people engaging with them, maybe working on them or carrying them, or whatever more they were doing.
You brought a lot of information this week, but it will have a lot more punch with a little organization.
This was an improvement, but we want to improve at least as much every week.
Cheers,
Jim
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