The design community has once again stepped up to the plate to help fill the hunger gap in a creative manner at Toronto’s 19th annual Canstruction design/build competition.
In all, 52,165 pounds of non-perishable food was donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank after the structures were dismantled.
“The event sends a very powerful message of how important it is to help those less fortunate in our community,” said Canstruction Toronto co-chair Helen Kabriel, a principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects.
“Our industry has found a way to put our stamp on a very special way of fundraising.”
Awards were presented May 15 at a reception at the Design Exchange, organized by the Society for Design Administration Canada and hosted by Cadillac Fairview Corporation.
In all, 19 teams participated this year in the competition, which recognizes a variety of factors, not just design esthetics.
The Best Use of Labels award focuses on creative graphic possibilities; the Best Meal award considers the variety and quality of the food donated; and Structural Ingenuity takes into account the complexity of the design.
In the winners’ circle this year are:
RJC Engineers (Best Original Design) for Slicing Through World Hunger
The planet cross-section made of tuna cans is intended to resemble a fruit being sliced. But the structure also evokes imagery of how fragile the earth is and the need to take care of it if world hunger is to end, explains a description of the build.
“This (entry) was impressive on a number of different levels,” said judge Andrea Kordos, a principal at blackLAB architects inc. “It is visually stunning in its use of colour. It is also quite impressive structurally.
“It has a fantastic variety and quality of food. But most importantly, the fragility of our planet and our food chain was beautifully represented.”
Turner Fleischer Architects Inc. (Best Meal) for Tweeting About Hunger
A canary in a coal mine is represented by Tweety Bird in a cage, as a warning sign of hunger and to encourage the use of social media to tweet about it.
“Being a chef, I always look at food and what goes into the structures,” said judge Matt Rosen, corporate brand chef at Cara Operations.
“This structure had a bit of everything. We had some rice, chickpeas, tomatoes, lentils and tuna. The overwhelming theme was tuna, which was amazing.”
Diamond Schmitt Architects (Structural Ingenuity) for {H2O} : #JoinTheTide
The structure is symbolically intended “to start a new wave of consciousness and make a splash” to end hunger. More than 3,000 cans of tuna were incorporated into the build.
“This year’s winning entry shows a tremendous amount of imagination and a very, very steady hand in the placement of the cans to make sure the structure stood up,” said judge James Theodorlis, a principal and director of building structures at Morrison Hershfield Ltd.
“This entry is very three-dimensional. The way it was constructed evokes movement. I was quite impressed by the way in which this was put together without any visible means of support.”
Rebanks pepper littlewood architects inc. and Quinn Dressel Associates (Best Use of Labels) for BabushCAN Says Eat!
The structure of Russian nesting dolls symbolizes a well-fed family and acts as a reminder that hunger is not just an individual issue, but one that affects entire families.
“This award goes to what I think is the prettiest composition,” said judge Norm Li, a principal in the firm of Norm Li, which creates renderings, animation and interactive experiences for the real estate development and design industry.
“This composition had a really wide spectrum of colours, which were subtle but effective in their contrasts. And despite having large cans, it achieved really fine detail.”
An honourable mention went to Gensler Architecture & Design Canada, Inc. for its CAN-Amorphic structure. Fingers interlace the city fabric and represent the helping hands of urban communities.
Participants this year also included two construction firms, Turner Construction Company and PCL. The latter teamed up with consulting engineering firm Entuitive.
“I think the calibre of the builds this year was exceptional,” said Canstruction Toronto co-chair Steven Titus, president and CEO of Aercoustics Engineering Ltd.
Since the event was launched in 1999, Canstruction Toronto has donated more than a million pounds of food to the Daily Bread Food Bank.
“These are awesome statistics,” said food bank CEO Neil Hetherington. “The donation of a million pounds of food is dramatic and appreciated.”
During the month of May, Canstruction accounts for almost half of non-perishable donations to the food bank. This is at a time when public donations tend to be low.
Master of ceremonies at the awards ceremony was CityNews anchor and senior manager-editorial Francis D’Souza.
Event sponsors include trade associations, among them the Ontario Association of Architects, Consulting Engineers of Ontario, Construction Specifications Canada and the Ontario General Contractors Association.
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