Design community takes a bite out of hunger

Quadrangle Architects Ltd. scored top honours at Toronto’s 11th annual Canstruction event with its Bridging the Great Divide structure.

Canstruction competition

Quadrangle Architects Ltd. scored top honours at Toronto’s 11th annual Canstruction event with its Bridging the Great Divide structure. The canyon symbolizes the growing chasm between those who have enough to eat and those who do not.

“We wanted to use something to evoke the vast mountainous regions of Canada to acknowledge that hunger is a problem that goes far beyond Toronto’s city limits,” the firm said.

The structure, which measures 10-feet by 10-feet by 8-feet tall, was constructed of a wide variety of canned beans, bags of split peas, boxes of spaghetti and two different types of tea.

“Donations have fallen dramatically to food banks everywhere,” Quadrangle said. “The gap between the hungry and the fed is widening. Please help us to bridge the great divide.”

The structure, which won the Jurors’ Favorite Award, was one of 20 created by design professionals. Teams design and build structures completely out of canned and packaged food for the benefit of Daily Bread Food Bank.

A total of 56,000 pounds of food will be donated to the food bank once the installations have been dismantled.

“Canstruction is the design industry’s way of doing something about hunger in Toronto,” said Eran Goldenberg, vice-president of finance at Scott Associates Architects Inc. and co-chair of the event’s steering committee. “It is our privilege and our duty to use our talent and resources to create these sculptures.”

Also in the winners’ circle this year were:

•Best Meal: Let’s Give a Dam! (Diamond + Schmitt Architects Inc.)

The sculpture depicts a beaver in his habitat. The animal was constructed of flakes of ham, apple juice and herring snacks. His tail was made of rolled oats and dried black beans. A wide variety of products were used to create a dam, water, chewed tree, surface grass/ground and even a fish.

•Structural Ingenuity: The Great CAN-AID-IAN Hunger Buster (Cohos Evamy Integratedesign)

The roller-coaster reflects the fact that life is full of ups and downs. Some families and individuals are faced with the additional stress of struggling to put food on the table. The supporting structure is a metaphor for the support provided by the Daily Bread Food Bank.

“Our team was determined to capture the thrills of a roller-coaster as best as possible so we deliberately chose to forego the assistance of any ‘permitted’ supporting materials and rely on gravity to keep it all together,” said Paul Backewich, an associate in the firm.

Primary colours on the labels added to the carnival feel.

Honourable mentions went to:

•Stand Out Against Hunger (Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners)

The sculpture shows three hungry people and one full person, all cut out of a large empty can. Their hollowness represents hunger and the fragility of a community that is devastated by hunger. The figures hold hands in a circle, illustrating that the fight against hunger cannot be overcome single handedly.

•Solving the Mystery of Hunger (Turner Fleischer Architects Inc.)

The structure depicts the characters from the Scooby Doo cartoon. Peas, beans and pasta predominately were used to create the van and characters while the dog was built out of rice pudding.

•Best Use of Labels: Bouncy Castle (AECOM)

The castle’s colourful columns and arches symbolize strength and support for those in need. The structure (pictured above) was designed to provide a complete meal based on four food groups. In recognition of the food bank’s needs, some baby products were included as well.

“There is a sophistication creeping into these structures that is pretty impressive,” said Canstruction steering committee co-chair Helen Kabriel, a principal in Diamond + Schmitt. “I don’t know if that’s happening in any other Canstruction cities.”

The event is presented by the Society for Design Administration Canada and organized in conjunction with Consulting Engineers of Ontario, the Design Exchange and the Canadian Marketing Association. Sponsors include the Ontario Association of Architects.

A student team from Centennial College competed as well.