A Jewish wedding takes place under a Chuppah, which symbolizes the new home being created by the marriage. The word “Chuppah” literally means “covering.” The chuppah symbolizes the home that the bride and groom are establishing together. The chuppah generally has four open sides, to welcome travelers from all directions.

This Chuppah was designed for the wedding of my son in Miami, in the auditorium of the Perez Art Museum. The auditorium space was fairly neutral and rectilinear, and the chuppah was designed as a vaulted structure to create a spatial intensity within the auditorium The steel structure consists of four steel legs supporting perforated steel panels, creating an open and transparent vaulted ceiling. All steel pieces were laser-cut and the chuppah was be assembled in about 80 minutes. Each perforated panel has an organic, lyrical pattern based on the patterns of barnacles found on beach rocks on Whidbey Island. As light enters the chuppah, the perforated panels create a rich and delicate series of shadows on the adjacent walls.

The vaulted structure has a symbolic reference to the vaulted form of the sky. Thus, although the chuppah was placed inside an auditorium, it brought the metaphorical vault of the sky inside.