Study Model  for Sukkah, Earth Wall Raised    1988

Based on the Shaker custom of barn raising, in which the family and community construct a barn in one day after the original was destroyed by fire.  This proposal indicates that the walls  are cast horizontally in concrete on the earth, then raised vertically to become the buildings’ walls, leaving imprints of earth, grass, leaf, etc. on the exterior.    The structure holding up the weight of the walls exists as scaffolding on the outside allowing the interior to be empty.  This emptiness allows maximum space for  family and community and encourages the  Jewish tradition of decorating the Sukkah.    This study also suggests the possibility of  displacing the earth from one location and bringing it to another:  for example  casting walls on Israeli soil for a New York City Sukkah.