On November 9th at the World Financial Center, all are invited to watch twenty-six of New York City’s top architecture, engineering and design firms will spend one adrenaline-filled evening configuring over 100,000 cans of food into gravity-defying sculptures for Canstruction, an exhibition, design competition and canned food drive to help feed hungry New Yorkers in need during the Thanksgiving season. While admission is free, visitors to the exhibit are encouraged to support the cause by contributing high-quality non-perishable foods, such as tuna, beans, and canned vegetables.
An annual art show, design competition, and food drive all rolled into one, Canstruction® raises hunger awareness by challenging teams of architects and engineers to create larger-than-life pop art masterpieces made entirely out of unopened cans of food. The eye-popping results will be displayed from November 10 through 21 before being donated to City Harvest for delivery to local community food programs. More information on the exhibit and images of last year’s winners after the break.
This year‘s New York Canstruction® exhibition will feature the work of 26 teams from the city’s top architecture, engineering and design firms. While each team spends months planning and designing their entries, they are allowed only one adrenaline-filled night to meticulously stack and color-coordinate cans into whimsical, wildly inventive feats of engineering. Last year’s highlights ranged from a pair of Russian nesting dolls created from over 3500 cans to a replica of the Standard Hotel straddling the Highline made almost entirely out of cans of tuna.
The sculptures will be judged by a panel of experts that includes Michael Arad, designer of the World Trade Center Memorial; Annie Block, editor at Interior Design magazine; Jeff Andrews, celebrated California-based interior designer; Mary-Jean Eastman, FAIA, MRAIC, IIDA, a founding partner of the international architecture and design firm, Perkins Eastman; Richard Hayden, FAIA RIBA, Managing Principal at Swanke Hayden Connell Architects; Ellie Krieger, New York Times bestselling author, James Beard Foundation award winner and host of Food Networks “Healthy Appetite;” Wade Burch, C.E.C., Executive Chef at SouthWest NY and first-place winner on the Food Network series “Chopped;”and Chip Wade, Master Carpenter on HGTV’s “Curb Appeal: The Block” and HGTV’s “Designed to Sell.”
This marks the fourth year in a row that Canstruction® will turn the World Financial Center into a spectacular food-sculpture gallery. New York is one of more than 100 cities around the world taking part in the international competition. More than 13 million pounds of food have been donated since Canstruction® was founded in 1992.
In New York City, Canstruction ® is presented by Arts World Financial Center and produced by Canstruction New York, Inc., and the New York Chapters of the Society for Design Administration and the American Institute of Architects. Canstruction® will remain on display November 10th through November 21st, 2011, from 10am to 6pm daily and until 5pm on November 21st in the World Financial Center complex.
