Canstruction Orlando

Canstruction is a design/build competition using canned and packaged foods as the building materials to create designs that showcase the ingenuity of the participants. The basic premise is this: local corporations, school groups, and community groups form teams that include at least one architect. They then design a structure, gather all the food items necessary to build it by getting donations of either cans or money to purchase the necessary cans, then construct their sculpture at Orlando Fashion Square in October for our week-long exhibition. We have some rules the teams must follow (it is a competition after all) and tips to help them along. At each competition a panel of distinguished judges from the community decides the winning structures in five different categories: Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Best Use of Labels, Juror's Favorite, and two Honorable Mentions. In addition to the primary awards we have a variety of local awards, all of which will be handed out at our evening celebration event! At the end of the week, all the structures are disassembled by the teams and the cans are donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Orlando is just one of the many participating cities in the United States, Australia, and Canada. This event is supported by the Society for Design Administration and the American Institute of Architects, along with national and local sponsorship from many corporations who support the design industry. So you see, Canstruction® Orlando is a competition, but it is a food drive to benefit Central Florida at its heart. This highly visible and unusual food drive helps bring attention to the hunger issue and, as a bonus, everyone who participates becomes part of the solution!