sukkah a hut to celebrate the catholic-jewish dialogue
סוכה _assembly instructions
MODEL OFFICE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
_memorial _parts catalog _tools catalog _assembly instructions
SUKKAH – BUILDING A HUT TO CELEBRATE CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH DIALOGUE IN PUC-RIO For several years now, the Christians and Jews Fraternity and the CatholicJewish Dialogue Groups have met at PUC-Rio, aiming the expansion of dialogue between people, ethnicities and faiths by promoting meetings and seminars. On October 2000, as the congress about “Jewish and Christian Celebrations” would happen during Sukkot, the Jewish section of CJD suggested the construction of a sukkah, joining theoretical information to practical example. The Israelite Religious Association (ARI), Reform Synagogue origin of interfaith dialogue, offered to build the sukkah and PUC, via it’s then Dean Father Jesus Hortal, guaranteed the infrastructure: electricity, amplifiers, and, most important, the leaves that were necessary to cover the hut. Since then, the assembly of the sukkah, broadly supported by the Dean Father Josafá Siqueira, has become one of the main initiatives of Dialogue. Lasting seven days, from 15th to 21st of Tishrei (month of the Jewish calendar, usually in October), Sukkot is celebrated by Jews from all around the world, with sukkot (plural of Sukkah) built in residential gardens, community spaces, synagogue patios, universities and schools, in obedience to Leviticus 23:42 – 43. “You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt”. The symbolic value of Sukkot exceeds the limits of Exodus grasping several dimensions; it is an agricultural festival, celebrating the harvest, and praying for rain, in order to guarantee fertile lands. Sukkot is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, since it’s one of the three pilgrimages all Jew should make to the Temple of Jerusalem, bringing his finest products. It is also a welcoming gathering, once the representatives of the 70 nations existing at the time were to be invited at the opening of the sukkah. Sukkot also reminds us of human fragility and precariousness of our belongings, because while residing in fragile huts, every Jew must remember that many still do not have a ceiling over their heads, nor the guarantee of a comfortable bed or a good meal.
Following the pattern of the synagogue, ARI and other Dialogue partners kept the tradition of a large and nice construction, until 2011 when Bambutec (PUC’s research sector of sustainable use of bamboo existing in abundance on the campus) assumed its construction. That became a milestone in the history of the Dialogue. The following year, due to the university calendar, with numerous holidays, the tradition would have been interrupted if Rabbi Eliahu Haber, from Beit Lubavitch, hadn’t contacted Professor Diane Kuperman, pleading for maintaining the sukkah and committing himself personally with the construction. With the consent of the Dean and head of the CJD, Father Hortal, the precious help of the Campus City Hall and the collaboration of students, the engagement was held until 2015, when PUC’s Department of Architecture and Urbanism, through its Model Office, decided to take on the challenge of developing a Sukkah that maintained the concept of fragility but, at the same time, attracted the interest of passersby. It is necessary to recognize that the sukkah was built amateurishly, without a defined project, with the use of plywood that was later discarded. As a result of improvisation, it had a simple appearance that did not attract the university community in general. The beauty of the festivity, the importance of celebrating the harvest, and especially the desire to wishing prosperity to the entire university community, and not only to the Jews, made the Model Office of Architecture and Urbanism offer the project to Rabbi Eliahu Haber and to the Christians and Jewis Fraternity, coordinated by Prof. Diane Kuperman, in order to emphasize the urgence of dialogue between people, especially when the world is facing the increase of ethnic and religious intolerance.
THE PRECEPTS OF RELIGION AND THE CONSTRUCTIVE PROCESS. FROM THE INITIAL IDEAS TO THE OPEN SOURCE PROJECT If, at first, the design of a hut might seem simple, the challenge of making a Sukkah that respected the religious precepts of kashrut on a Catholic university campus is much more complex. The goal of this new project was to be accessible to everyone, regardless of creed. However religious rituals were performed by Jews. For this reason, the project was thought by bringing on its faรงades some known symbols of Judaism - the Star of David and Menorah. It also explores contact with nature through natural materials such as wood, cotton fabric and cover plant, with excellent thermal comfort inside and ample natural lighting. The sukkah is an open building, which must have at least 3 walls and a partial vegetation cover that allows contact with the sky, the view of the stars and more shade than sunlight. As it was desired to attract the university community as a whole, it was thought of walls emptied by Jewish symbols cut out on the router and internal white curtains sewn in translucent fabric to allow the entrance of light and the external visibility of the meetings. From cutting the woods to sewing the curtains, everything was done by students and teachers of the Model Architecture Office, from various origins and religions, with the guidance of Rabbi Eliahu Haber to ensure a kosher construction. In order to experiment with a constructive process that used digital tools and a cnc laser cutting router existing on the PUC-Rio experimental site, a modular and flexible sukkah was proposed, all made of wood, which allows new configurations and assemblies at each edition, without difficulty. As a result, the project catalog, with the entire manufacturing and assembly process, can be available on the internet in an open source system so that other communities can reproduce it if they wish so. It took a few months of design and seven days of production of the pieces formed by a structure made of pergola in maรงaranduba, panels in naval plywood and curtains in cotton fabric. The assembly took 3 days, respecting the Shabbath, and the disassembly was done in a few hours, but with great care in storing the parts and hardware for the following editions.
parts_
13 roof rafters of 6x4x250mm
4 chamfered beam of 14x6x250mm
12 pillars of 14x6x250mm
tools_
30 angle-bracket
24 screw bars of 3/8� (10mm) with 15cm + 2 nuts and washers/each
screws of 3mm (aprox. 120)
eletric screwdriver
hammer drill
assembly_
1_ align the pillars and the beams
2_ fit the screws squarely
3_ tighten the nuts
4_ organize the parts to prepare them for lifting
5_ align the two walls
6_ with the angle-bracket, attach a rafter at each end to lock the structure
7_ also with the angle-brackets, attach the pillars to the sides
8_ place the other rafters on the roof, always from the axis of the pillars
9_ drill the hoes to secure the facade boards
10_ with the screws, secure the boards
11_ you can arrange it the way you prefer. the modular system allows different sets.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT_ to Professor Moisés Szwarcman to Padre Jesus Hortal to Diane Kuperman
TECHNICAL TEAM_ Vera Hazan Luciano Álvares Arnon Lintz Julia Tabet Michel Zalis Natalie Przechacki Eduardo Romano Rodolpho Guimarães Sofia Olival COLABORATORS_ Bruno Bins Bianca Naylor Flávia Renales Henrique Fialho José Eduardo Teixeira Larissa Mesquita Priscilla Rembischewski Suzane Taublib Tatiana Pines RELIGIOUS SUPERVISION_ Rabino Eliahu Haber
CONTACT INFORMATIONS_ email_ emdaupucrio@gmail.com adress_ Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225 Ed. Metro/mezanino, Gávea
סוכה