Boston-Area Architecture Community Donates 40,000 Cans of Food to Greater Boston Food Bank

Summary: Last week, 17 Boston-area architecture and design firms designed sculptures out of a combined total of 40,000 cans of food as part of CANSTRUCTION®, a national community-service project held in 40 cities across the country. All of the food will be donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank when the exhibit leaves the library November 10. The Society for Design Administration’s CANSTRUCTION program partners at the local level with AIA chapters and other professional allied organizations to produce the competitions.

Boston’s CANSTRUCTION, held in conjunction with Mayor Menino’s Can Share food drive, donates all the food from both events to The Greater Boston Food Bank. The two initiatives expect that more than 150,000 pounds of food will be donated to The Food Bank— the equivalent of nearly 115,385 meals. “We thank all of the architecture and design firms and the City of Boston for this extremely generous and timely donation,” said Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank. “The food from these donations will go to feed the men, women, and children of eastern Massachusetts, many of whom need to make a choice this time of year between heating their homes and feeding their families.”

And the winner is . . .
Awards were presented in the following categories:

• Structural Integrity: “Simon the Spider,” by Symmes Maini & McKee
• Best Use of Labels: “The Can-o-Lantern,” by Margulies & Assoc.
• Friends Of The Food Bank: “Huge Stubbins: 1912-2006,” by The Stubbins Associates
• Juror's Favorite: “The CANcracker,” by Tsoi Kobus & Assoc.
• Honorable Mention: “Fall in New England,” by CBT Architects
• Honorable mention: “fish wish” (cat hunting for fish in Fishbowl), by Prellwitz chilinski assoc.
• Director's Choice: “Color Is the Spice of Life,” by Cubellis
• People's Choice: “We CAN all be Part of the Solution,” by Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott
• Reader's Choice*: “The CAN Vinci Code,” by Carter Burgess.

(*Reader's Choice is a new category developed by Bernie Margolis, president of the Boston Public Library.)

Can Share, now in its 20th year, is the annual food drive sponsored by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Hunger, Federal Express, Project Bread, and the United States Postal Service. Can Share benefits The Greater Boston Food Bank and hundreds of food pantries in Boston. Can Share involves the Boston business community and City Hall departments in an effort to combat hunger in Boston by collecting food donations as well as monetary contributions. For additional information, visit the city’s Can Share Web site.