“Sukkah City” was an architectural design competition and work of installation art held in Union Square Park in September 2010. Conceived by journalist Joshua Foer and Roger Bennett, it was sponsored by Reboot, an organization for innovation in Jewish culture, rituals, and traditions. The competition invited architects and designers to construct radical sukkahs that adhered to traditional requirements but otherwise rethought the sukkah’s structure and appearance.

Jason Hutt created a documentary film about the competition, and this video excerpt is the documentary’s trailer.

Suggested Activity: Ask your students: What values or ideas should a sukkah express? What do you think would make a sukkah innovative? Then, have your students view the sukkahs on the Sukkah City website and choose their own winner. Ask students to explain their choices and to describe what relationship, if any, the sukkah they chose has with another sukkah described in this kit.