Sukkah Village 2021: Cultural Event Blends Design and Spirituality, Raising Awareness of Social Issues
Local architects and designers constructing traditional Judaic shelters (sukkahs) on public sites around Princeton in support of Jewish festival of Sukkot; family-friendly experiential event promoting creativity and sustainability. The sukkahs will be sold via online auction to benefit charitable organizations.
PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Locally headquartered integrated architecture and design firm JZA+D, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks, has announced a unique, sprawling multi-day cultural event: Sukkah Village 2021 will take place at several sites throughout Downtown Princeton, coinciding with the Jewish holiday Sukkot, which occurs in the latter half of September.
Event organizers, sponsors and participants hope that Sukkah Village 2021 will raise awareness of the power of design to address key social issues impacting New Jersey and the country – particularly housing insecurity, homelessness, hunger, sustainability, and the struggles of refugees worldwide, all of which resonate with the themes and traditions associated with Sukkot.
Eight high-profile architecture and design firms from across the state will join New Jersey Institute of Technology student design competition winners to participate in this major public exhibition and celebration. From September 19-29, eventgoers may visit several designated sites around Downtown Princeton to experience sukkahs – the temporary shelters which figure prominently in Sukkot celebrations – designed by the architects and student teams. A total of twelve sukkahs will be erected on sites provided by venue partners, with ten designed by eight practicing architects from across the state and two designed and built by student teams selected from a competition held this past Spring.
Additional Sukkah Village programming includes panel discussions, walking tours, a film screening, and a family-oriented arts and crafts gathering.
Sukkah Village 2021 will also be a platform for fundraising efforts for associated charitable organizations. To that end, the sukkahs themselves – all of which can be taken apart and reassembled each year for Sukkot – will be sold via an online auction which will open to bids just prior to Labor Day and close just after Sukkah Village 2021 ends, at which point winning bidders will be contacted. Interested parties can learn more by visiting the event website at sukkahvillage.com.
"Sukkot is a harvest celebration, but it is also meant to highlight the importance and fragility of shelter," says Joshua Zinder, local architect, entrepreneur, managing partner of JZA+D, and current president of AIA-New Jersey. "Thanks to the phenomenal professional and student designers involved, and to the commitment of key partner and sponsor organizations, we expect Sukkah Village 2021 will capture the imaginations of eventgoers and inspire them to contribute to solutions for the range of critical issues facing New Jersey, such as homelessness, hunger, and a growing affordable housing gap."
Sukkah Village 2021 was inspired in part by Zinder's participation in a similar event in New York City. Galvanizing the state's architectural community, Zinder and his firm have worked to form and strengthen partnerships with like-minded designers and their firms to develop Sukkah Village in a way that would promote thoughtful conversations about critical issues facing their communities.
According to Zinder, a partnership with local philanthropic organization The Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks, contributed considerably to making the event possible.
"This event provides a unique opportunity to feature talented architects and share their vision with the local community, in celebration of Sukkot," says Daniel Herscovici, Board President of the Jewish Federation. "The festival holiday commemorates the years the Jews spent wandering the desert, and how G-D sheltered us from the harsh desert conditions. Sukkah Village 2021 is an opportunity to highlight issues of housing insecurity faced by our local community and communities around the world, to spark conversations about these and related issues, and to inspire each other to address them. It is a meaningful event, and we're proud to be involved."
Other event partners and sponsors include Princeton Hillel CJL, the Jewish Center of Princeton NJ, Arts Council of Princeton, and the Municipality of Princeton. A complete list of sponsors, organizing partners, and venue partners is available at sukkahvillage.com.
For more information and interviews with event organizers and partners, please contact C.C. Sullivan.
SUKKAH VILLAGE 2021 FACT SHEET
NOTE: Some details are still being finalized. Please visit http://www.sukkahvillage.com for the latest detailed information, and to sign up for updates by email.
SUKKAH VILLAGE 2021
WHEN: September 19-30, 2021
WHERE: Princeton, New Jersey, various partner locations:
- Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street
- Jewish Center of Princeton, 435 Nassau Street
- Palmer Square, 3 Palmer Square (on Hulfish Street)
- Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street
- YWCA Princeton, 59 Paul Robeson Place
- Trinity Church Princeton, 33 Mercer Street
- Additional venue to be announced
WHAT:
A unique cultural event, Sukkah Village 2021 is focused on the power of design to address humanitarian issues that resonate thematically with the Jewish festival holiday Sukkot, including housing insecurity, homelessness, and hunger.
Eventgoers will be able to visit designated sites to see completely built and functional sukkahs – the temporary hut-like shelters which figure prominently in Sukkot celebrations – designed by eight practicing architecture firms and two student design teams, all from New Jersey.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Details at http://www.sukkahvillage.com
- 9/5 Online auction of sukkahs opens
- 9/19 Kickoff evening
- 9/19 – 9/29 Sukkahs open to public
- 9/20 Informal walking tour
- 9/22 Talk on Homelessness
- 9/23 Youth Group Activity
- 9/23 Talk on Sustainability
- 9/25 Talk on Refugees and Hunger
- 9/26 "Sukkah Hop" with Architects
- 9/30 Auction closes
Media Contact
Adam Sullivan, C.C. Sullivan, +1 2127577932, adam@ccsullivan.com
SOURCE Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design (JZA+D)
Share this article