Dor L' Dor
Tomer Ben-Gal, in collaboration with Gil Even-Tsur & Isamu Kanda
How can architecture facilitate meditation? How can geometry communicate history and tradition? Using twelve equilateral triangles as the sukkah’s frame, Dor L’ Dor provides an intimate dwelling space for individual meditation throughout the seven days of Sukkoth.
The sukkah is constructed as self-generating doorframes comprised of twelve extruded triangles, the scale of which is reduced in increments as the concentric triangles twist to form both a spiraling staircase and roof. Slatted walls emerge as the triangles’ frames radiate and rotate, and draw one’s eye upwards as the supporting beams morph into the s’chach. The staircase functions as the individual seating area, allowing the inhabitant to recline on it while directing the gaze to the sky.
The design of Dor L’ Dor purposefully incorporates a specific number of shapes and angles to construct a temporary site of meditation and remembrance. In total, there are seventy-two angles in the sukkah’s design to correspond with the seventy-two names of G_d. The twelve triangles that form the base for the sukkah bear reference to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but are also used to illustrate the maximum number of parts in reality as defined by Chazal.
The concept of the triangle pushing out from its origin and the subsequent trail it forms above and below parallels the path the Israelites followed to the Promised Land and G_d’s presence as s’chach throughout the journey. Dor L’ Dor contributes to the continuum of Jewish tradition by providing an environment to contemplate impermanence and celebrate the divine.
The sukkah is constructed as self-generating doorframes comprised of twelve extruded triangles, the scale of which is reduced in increments as the concentric triangles twist to form both a spiraling staircase and roof. Slatted walls emerge as the triangles’ frames radiate and rotate, and draw one’s eye upwards as the supporting beams morph into the s’chach. The staircase functions as the individual seating area, allowing the inhabitant to recline on it while directing the gaze to the sky.
The design of Dor L’ Dor purposefully incorporates a specific number of shapes and angles to construct a temporary site of meditation and remembrance. In total, there are seventy-two angles in the sukkah’s design to correspond with the seventy-two names of G_d. The twelve triangles that form the base for the sukkah bear reference to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but are also used to illustrate the maximum number of parts in reality as defined by Chazal.
The concept of the triangle pushing out from its origin and the subsequent trail it forms above and below parallels the path the Israelites followed to the Promised Land and G_d’s presence as s’chach throughout the journey. Dor L’ Dor contributes to the continuum of Jewish tradition by providing an environment to contemplate impermanence and celebrate the divine.
