What is Canstruction?

Canstruction^® is the most unique food charity in the world! A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction^® is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America.  Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. 

The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held.  At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers. 

Paradigm Design, Inc., CD Barnes, and Rhoades Engineering created this sculpture using around 2000 cans, and won awards for: Jurors Choice, Structural Ingenuity, & Best Use of Labels.

Hunger and Poverty are not unique to any one continent, but it seems that Africa in particular has been hard hit by this duo. Our concept posed two serious challenges. One was to create a map of Africa with a face superimposed on the front. The second was to make this awkward continent stand on its narrowest point, while large portions of it cantilevered out. Our sculpture attempts to give a face to the hunger experienced in Africa and all over the world. There are two faces embedded in the design, one is a colored map of Africa depicting the Sahara Dessert, jungles of the Congo, and even Lake Victoria. The second human face of those who need help. Challenge number one was finding the labels that would allow us to create these two faces. Challenge number two was structural. Structurally our sculpture can be thought of as a giant seesaw in perfect balance. The weight of the cans on one side is equal to that on the other allowing the sculpture to stand in harmony and symmetry.