CSDF 101: So what is the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival?

So what is the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival (CSDF)? Join us on this 4-minute video adventure in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood to learn what a sukkah is, meet the organizers and participants, see the amazing architectural installations, and get a taste of why these structures matter for the future of the city.

About CSDF:
The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival convenes community organizations and architectural designers to create sukkahs—outdoor structures inspired by a Jewish architectural custom. The Festival celebrates how these usually temporary structures can be repurposed to build community in new contexts by initiating long-term creative collaborations among the participating organizations and designers, as well as an interconnected coalition of neighbors, students, program partners, and other engaged citizens.

The co-created sukkahs initiate solidarity and collaboration, particularly among the Jewish community that historically lived in the neighborhood and the predominantly Black community currently residing there now. Throughout CSDF, North Lawndale comes alive with dynamic public programming that welcomes and engages all. Afterward, the sukkahs are relocated to permanent sites within the community, where they continue to serve as vibrant centers for education, cultural events, and social services, transforming each sukkah into a valuable and ongoing community asset and contributing to broader community development efforts already underway in the neighborhood.

The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is co-hosted by:
Could Be Design
Lawndale Pop-Up Spot ‪@lawndalepopupspot9503‬
Architecture for Public Benefit
Open Architecture Chicago

Film Directed/Produced:
Stewart Hicks ‪@stewarthicks‬
Evan Montgomery

CSDF is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.

The 2024 Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is made possible by the generous support of The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; Crown Family Philanthropies; Terra Foundation for American Art; The Jules and Gwen Knapp Charitable Foundation; Innovation 80; Phil Kaplan & Marcia Bogolub; Jeff & Deb Zaluda; Eli Kaplan & Jamie Albrecht; Ken & Paula Weissman.