Architecture Professors Sarah Young and Michael McClure of emc&young Design and Build Sukkah.

The project “31” by the architecture collaborative firm emc&young, was selected as a finalist for The Sukkah Project Dwell in Design competition in Dallas, Texas in September 2018.  Architecture faculty Sarah Young and Michael McClure are partners in emc&young, the research design collaborative within the professional firm of emerymcclure architecture. 

The Sukkah Project: Dwell in Design competition invited architects, artists and builders nationally to submit their most creative and exciting sukkah designs. Ten finalists were selected to receive a $1,800 construction stipend and were tasked with building a life size, modern, artistic sukkah to be displayed at the Dallas Museum of Biblical Art during the weeklong festival. (A Sukkah is a temporary structure constructed for annual use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot.)

The nominated project “31” is a design evocative of palm huts, with profound inspirations.

 “31” is inspired by two frail and transient occupancies,” the architects state. “The first is the woven basket that provided shelter for Moses as a baby, protecting him from the Pharaoh’s decree. The second is the Gulf Coast Choctaw Indians who dwelled along the beaches in palm frond huts.”

These palm huts were composed of local raw materials to meet basic needs of shelter, protection, and storage. “31” harnesses both the natural materials and structural systems these inspirations employed: the palm fronds for skin, the weaving to create a surface, and the light, linear frame to create space and place.