Alumna

Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University in St Louis

Project

Susan Shender, RA / BA, 1975

Files

Date

9-7-2014

Description

Sukkah Soul Sukkah Kit, Designer. Cedar, Polyethylene Netting, Metal Connectors, 2004.

The Sukkah Soul sukkah is a booth used during the Jewish harvest holiday Sukkot. The design is influenced by traditional texts and sources. The form is inspired by three imaginative ideas interwoven during Sukkot: the Kabbalah’s Sefirot, the ushpizin or guests welcomed in the sukkah and psalms read during the holiday.

Through the language of the Sefirot, G*d is expressed in ten manifestations, as it were, like kindness, strength and beauty. These manifestations have avenues of connection to one another forming triads of relationships.

Seven of these manifestations coordinate with the seven hakafot-circuits when the Torah scrolls are carried around the bima. Each circuit is honored with the reading of a psalm related to a Sefirotic emanation. The seven manifestations are also paired with our patriarchs, who serve as guests.

People may feel surrounded by the Sefirot / psalms / guests when they dine and study in the sukkah.

Comments

Women in the Design World: Work in Progress, an exhibition presented by the Sam Fos School of Design and Visual arts in conjunction with the Women in Architecture Symposium 2014.

Recommended Citation

Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, "Susan Shender, RA / BA, 1975" (2014). Women in the Design World: Work in Progress. 5.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/wia_profiles/5