Canstruction Celebrates 50 Years of Statehood

The Honolulu chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosted its fourth annual Canstruction event on Aug. 15 at Pearlridge Center’s Uptown Center Court.
This year nine teams of local architects and allied design and engineering professionals “canstructed” in six hours giant structures made entirely of thousands of cans of foods, all of which has been donated to the Hawaii Foodbank. The pieces were designed around the theme “Celebrating 50 Years of Statehood: Hawaii Then and Now!”
The winners of the competition include:
• Jurors’ Favorite: “Pound Out Hunger” (poi pounder) by Fung Associates
• Structural Integrity: “CAN You Say Shaka Braddah?” (shaka sign) by KYA Design Group
• Best Use of Labels: “The Big Aloha Shirts” (aloha shirt) by WATG
• Best Meal and Most Pounds Donated: “USS Arizona Memorial – A Canstruction Tribute” by Belt Collins
Completed structures were on display for two weeks, during which members of the public were encouraged to participate in the People’s Choice food drive by voting for their favorite structure through more donations of food (one can equaling one vote).
On the day of de-canstruction, Aug. 30, the winner of the People’s Choice Award was presented to Parsons Brinckerhoff with its “TUNeA toot-toot CAN deliver Aloha!” train constructed of tuna and other cans.
Canstruction is the largest single-day promotion for the food
bank, donating more than 165,000
pounds of food in the past four years.The 2009 event brought in 33,223 pounds for the Hawaii Foodbank.