Sukkahville stresses housing issue

Toronto design competition asks participants to 're-imagine the sukkah'

Ashley Baylen|Published: 10.09.11 , 09:46

Just the other day, I had a conversation with my friend about how egregious Toronto housing has become. Who can afford $1,300 for a small one-bedroom apartment or invest in a three-bedroom bungalow for half a million, while still paying off student debts, raising a family, and attempting to maintain some semblance of a normal life?

The truth is that a small segment of the population can afford the Toronto lifestyle, but what are the other options? In Toronto alone, there are over 75,000 households on the waiting list to obtain social assistance.

These are the issues that the Kehilla Residential Program wants to publically address with this year’s Sukkahville program.

Inspired to New York's Sukkah City, the campaign invites design professionals, students, architects, and artists to “re-imagine the sukkah”. A sukkah is a temporary structure that is used during the Jewish festival of Sukkot.

The unique design competition received 18 submissions, but only five of the sukkot (selected by a panel of high profile judges) will actually be built for the community to experience.

The winning entries will be on display, alongside international submissions from as far as Hong Kong and Mexico.

The Awards Ceremony, taking place on Tuesday from 7-9 pm, will be held at the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Sherman Campus and will include live music by Klezkonnection, the People’s Choice Award, and a dessert reception.

The Kehilla Residential Program is the official housing agency of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, a non-profit housing agency whose mandate is to identify and champion affordable housing initiatives responsive to the needs of the Jewish community in the GTA.

Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life