Although most students put their coursework to rest at the semester’s end, the hard work of the students of last spring’s Architecture II class has continued to pay off. After conceiving, designing, and constructing a contemporary take on the Sukkah—a temporary booth erected every fall for the eight day celebration of Sukkot, a Jewish harvest holiday—last semester’s architecture students have been awarded a prize by Faith and Form Magazine in the category of  “Sacred Landscape.”

Despite heavy competition from professional artists and architects around the world, the University’s Sukkah came out on top. According to Michael Crosbie, Editor-in-Chief of Faith and Form Magazine—a quarterly magazine that focuses on religious art and architecture—the five-person jury panel, which included artists, architects and one clergy member, were in awe of how much the students had achieved.

“They [the judges] were most impressed that it was accomplished by students working with a professor,” Crosbie said. “Most of what we look at is done by professionals.”

In a collective description, the jury panel described the Sukkah as a “contemporary manifestation of an ancient practice.”

They went on to explain that both the structure and its construction are wrought with religious significance.

“In this case, the design and building experience becomes a religious [one],” the jury wrote. “It is a superb manifestation of the intent of the holiday and its only required religious act [of building a Sukkah].”

The Sukkah consists of five archways constructed from a skeletal steel frame and clad in bamboo mats; the spaces between the bamboo reeds provide a view of the sky from inside the structure. This is just one of the many stipulations that must be followed in the building of a Sukkah under Jewish law. 

Among other requirements, the Sukkah cannot be built underneath a tree and its roof must be constructed from a material cut from the earth.

“It was a really challenging project,” said Assistant Professor of Art Elijah Huge, who teaches Architecture II. “We were working with an amazingly detailed rabbinical code, and the students were able to respect these codes while also making something creative.”

According to students in the class, they viewed the laws regarding a Sukkah as a bonus rather than as an obstacle.

“The model allows for permeability without violating the sacred space,” Saul Carlin ’09 said in an interview with The Argus last semester. “We found inspiration within the kosher rules.”

To ensure that the Sukkah followed Jewish law, a team of religious experts—consisting of Professor of Religion Jeremy Zwelling and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Rabbi David Leipziger Teva—was assembled. Both Zwelling and Rabbi Teva jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

“We got to bring together coursework and Jewish life on campus,” Zwelling said. “They often go their separate ways, but we like to find occasions for their intersection.”

Rabbi Teva took it upon himself to ensure that the Sukkah stood up to even the strictest interpretation of Jewish law.

“I told Professor Huge that I would drive him crazy with medieval Jewish legal building codes,” Rabbi Teva said. “But Huge and his students took on every challenge with poise and grace.”

The upcoming edition of Faith and Form Magazine will feature a full-page spread devoted to the Sukkah, and photographs of the winning submissions will be displayed at an awards ceremony in Miami, Florida in July. 

For everyone involved, the award is an affirmation of the students’ hard work and creativity.

“I’m really happy,” said Rosa Mcelheny ’11, a member of the Architecture II course. “I definitely think we realized our vision.”

Despite the conclusion of Architecture II in May, the class has one more assignment: it needs to rebuild the Sukkah for this year’s Sukkot celebration, which begins on October 2. Starting on September 18, students will be working alongside Physical Plant employees to rebuild the structure.

“The class is going to work together along side Physical Plant to show them how it’s done,” Mcelheny said. “We’ll also make an instruction booklet so once everyone in the class has graduated, there will still be a guide on how to rebuild it.”