CANSTRUCTION® “Can-Deed:” Designers’ Imagination and Ingenuity Helps Create Meals for Millions
Voltaire’s Candide instructed us to "cultivate our garden,” and participants in the seventh national CANSTRUCTION® competition have done Candide one better by transforming their canned food “gardens” into giant works of art that will feed more than a million hungry people. That’s a whopping “Can-Deed”! The winners of the competition were declared May 10 during the national AIA and Society of Design Administration conventions in San Diego.
Most
Cans
“Face Off Against Hunger”
Merrick Architecture, Brook Development Planning Inc., and Focus Real
Estate Marketing Ltd.
Vancouver
Hosted at Vancouver Port Authority Cruise Ship Terminal
Photo © Marina Dodis
10,000+ cans
Special
Commendation Awards
“Food Drive—Classic 1970s
VW Beetle”
Nadasky Kopelson Architects
Morristown, N.J.
Hosted at the Morris Museum
Photo © Jennifer Jaskot
7,800 cans
Jury comments: The ultimate canning machine. Well-engineered craftsmanship;
cute as a bug.
“Make
Your Move to Check-Mate Hunger”
Kimley-Horn and Associates
Raleigh
Hosted at Exploris
Photo © Michael Zirkle
5,000 cans
Jury comments: Classic, pure, simple, elegant, dramatic.
Using 1,161,263 pounds of canned food. a total 430 structures were built in 46 cities across the U.S. and Canada during local competitions this past year. All of the food used in the structures, plus food donated by the viewing public, went to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs. In addition, $87,254 in cash was contributed; cans and cash together provide the equivalent of 1,427,191 meals for those in need.
The creativity is astounding. Just when you think everything imaginable has been done, a whole new crop of ideas comes bubbling to the surface. Pop cartoon icon Sponge Bob Square Pants was a very popular figure this year. Bob was canstructed in a variety of sculptures across the country, and yet this year marks his first appearance in the competition.
Honorable
Mentions
“Can You Answer?”
Severud Associates
New York City
Hosted at the New York Design Center
Photo © Kevin Wick
1,766 cans
Jury comments: Structurally complex. Incredible details, lifelike, clever,
unique. Loved the Yellow Pages.
The
PumpCan Man
Einhorn Yaffee Prescott
New York City
Hosted at the New York Design Center
Photo © Kevin Wick
3,394 cans
Jury comments: Nice three-dimensionality. Complex structure making a truly
simple statement. The GREAT Pumpkin!
Each year, the structures become more and more sophisticated both in design and execution, making it harder and harder for the jury to choose just six winners. In addition to the special commendations and honorable mentions above, the competition featured the classic categories of “Best Meal,” “Best Use of Labels,” “Structural Ingenuity,” and “Juror’s Favorite.”
Best
Meal
“Freedom From Hunger”
Spencer Partnership Architects
Houston
Hosted at Bank of America Center
Photo© Richard Loper
3,354 cans
Jury comments: Outstanding tie-in of food, theme, image, and title, along
with a variety of labels to articulate design.
Best
Use of Labels
“Portrait of Elvis”
Heery International, Inc.
Atlanta
Hosted at Colony Square Mall
Photograph ©Michael Patrick
Jury comments: Outstanding use of color. Using three separate color palettes,
subtle but strong images combine one-dimensional pixel portraits into
a three-dimensional structure. “King of Pop” tied to food
product (just wish it wasn’t soda): Powerful design, hollow calories.
Structural
Ingenuity
“Ancient Greek Vase”
Architect Rolandos Chrysomilides, Hellenic Community of Vancouver, and
Metropolitan Fine Printers, Inc.
Vancouver
Hosted at the Vancouver Port Authority Cruise Ship Terminal
Photo © Marina Dodis
6,000 cans
Jury comments: A structural challenge. The handles were most impressive,
along with the curved surface. Complex three-dimensionality—long
with fluid design while using static building material.
Jurors’
Favorite
“Canned Tuna: Give a man a fish
feed him for a day; Give a man 1,238 cans of tuna, feed him for 1,238
days.”
AGM Architecture + Design
Morristown, N.J.
Hosted at the Morris Museum
Photo © Jennifer Jaskot
1,238 cans, 415 Bottles
Jury comments: Dramatic impact of the structure. Clean flowing lines,
three-dimensional quality, and relationship of the food to the piece.
Clever commentary.
The jury also recognized 30 teams from Vancouver for the “Most Teams Ever for a First Year Competition.”
Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects.
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| Click photos for a close-up view. CANSTRUCTION® is a national charity of the design and construction industry trademarked by the Society of Design Administration and sponsored in association with chapters of the AIA, ABC, AGC, and IIDA. National contributors to CANSTRUCTION are: Architectural Digest, Avonite, Buchanan Ingersoll, Crittal Windows Ltd., International Masonry Institute, Millennium Offset, OD&P, and Wind2 Software. Anyone interested in organizing a CANSTRUCTION Competition contact Cheri C. Melillo at cmelillo@brb.com, 212-792-4666. The jury for this year’s national event included:
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