Gathering

Dale Suttle, So Sugita, Ginna Nguyen

For forty years, the Israelites wandered the desert. They found rest from their wandering, communing with one another in shelters built of brush and trees. The city is similar. We wander its streets and get lost in its chaos. In the city we search for our own trees and our own temporary moments of urban intimacy. And whether wandering through the desert for forty years or through the city for a day, all people desire respite. The Sukkah is an icon for this relief from transience, and this project explores what a temporary structure can be in the urban environment through a non-linear design.



The relationship of transience to the non-linear system is in how the singular pieces move towards certain attraction points in the given conditions. The result is a calculated yet unpredictable structure. As the sticks shift, they create a specific entry and space of occupation for the user. Now the movement and body of the user have a direct interaction with the structure itself. The aggregation of the branches and the degree range of enclosure also allows for movement, creating a variation of porosity. The angle and flow of the sticks shades the reflecting soul during the day and at night guides the dweller’s eyes up to the stars. This process creates a phenomenological space – through its randomness, light is manipulated and it is through this intangible material that a space becomes dynamic, reaching to the intangible spirit.



