SOM Wins 10th Annual Steelcase Holiday Design Competition

A modern menorah, designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM), won ‘Best Menorah’ in Steelcase’s 10th Annual Wreath and Menorah Design Competition and Charity Auction held on December 3, 2009.

The winning design, created by SOM’s Colin Gorsuch, is a cast piece of solid wax that mimics the liquidity of the ancient consecrated oil. As the menorah burns, its 8x8 framework is revealed. The melted wax falls onto the wooden base and paints a pictorial timeline of the Hanukkah celebration.

The archetypal form of the menorah traditionally commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem and the “miracle of the container of oil,” in which a one-day supply of olive oil lit the Temple’s eternal flame for eight full days.

Steelcase announced the competition winners at their Chicago Showroom and auctioned off the competition entries to benefit the Children’s Place Association, an agency that assists children and families whose lives have been affected by disease and poverty. Steelcase, a global leader in the office furniture industry, celebrated the 10th anniversary of this annual fundraiser.

Additionally, SOM designed a wreath, created by Adrian McDermott. In traditional Christian symbolism, the wreath evokes the circle of life and immortality. SOM’s design reinterprets the wreath as a torus, a surface generated by rotating a circle on an axis. Conceived as a lattice frame, the 80 individual parts are deliberately rotated off-axis, evoking the hand-crafted nature of traditional wreaths made from tree boughs.

Images: SOM