Stick Stack
If the traditional Sukkah represents the time and environment of an open desert thousands of years ago, how do we reinterpret the Sukkah for the bustling, urban environment of New York in 2010? For Stick Stack, the Sukkah reinterprets communal gathering space - enabling interaction with other New Yorkers and New York itself. The structure is made of branches provided from tree pruning maintenance in city parks, reused to form a place of celebration and community. The vertical supports of the trough are bound together to sandwich the sticks in bundles without tying. City lights filter though the skin recreating the open starry nights of the desert. The roof is imagined as an extension and “unraveling” of the wall, the vertical surface frays to create an overhead enclosure. Thinking beyond the traditional family unit to the New York equivalent, Stick Stack maximizes gathering space, fostering interaction with a larger community of fellow New Yorkers. The centerpiece of a Sukkah is the dining table. Here, the table unfolds and curves to maximize usable space. The elongated table now forms a permeable wall which encourages interaction while reinforcing personal boundaries. A window provides an opening between the two sides of the Sukkah and is used as a surface for eating, reading, engaging and conversing. Open and accessible, the Sukkah’s boundary extends into the city. Stick Stack provides a filter of the city, a place of contemplation, celebration and interaction, a place to feel removed from, yet part of, New York in 2010.