Sukkahville was an international design competition, exhibition, and awareness-raising event which Kehilla organized from 2011 through 2016. The design competition challenged entrants to re-imagine the Sukkah, a temporary structure built during the Jewish festival of Sukkot to commemorate the 40 years that Jews spent wandering the desert. It is described as a symbolic wilderness shelter, symbolizing the frailty and transience of life. Proposing an innovative Sukkah design which balanced the dichotomies of new/old, open/closed, temporary/permanent was the challenge inherent in this competition.

Sukkahville’s mission was to highlight Kehilla’s affordable housing initiatives. Sukkahville helped create a conversation about affordable housing in Toronto, raised public awareness through interactive Sukkah exhibitions around the city, and generated funds to create more accessible rental housing in the Greater Toronto Area.

Sukkahville garnered international as well as local attention, and was featured heavily in the press. The conversations which Kehilla started in Toronto grew to online discussions on housing affordability and innovation in design. See Sukkahville’s impact and critical successes and more here:

To see all previous years’ Sukkahvilles, visit our YouTube page below.