The 23rd annual Canstruction competition is set to take place Sept. 23 at Pioneer Place in downtown Portland.

This year will feature eight teams of professionals representing 19 architecture, construction or engineering firms. They will transform 33,000 cans of food into creative sculptures, which will then be on display in the mall during the week of Sept. 23-29.

After the teams construct their sculptures, each one will be judged by the Portland Canstruction Portland jury. Awards will be given for Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Best Use of Labels, Best Original Design and the Golden SPAM.

When the event concludes, all cans of food used will be donated to the Oregon Food Bank. Officials this year are aiming to collect upwards of 60,000 meals for the food bank.

This year’s participating companies are David Evans and Associates, Environments, FFA Architecture and Interiors, HDR Inc., Hennebery Eddy Architects, IA Interior Architects, KPFF Consulting Engineers, LRS Architects, Modulus Consulting, Murrysmith, OTAK, PAE, Skanska USA Building, the SSOE Group, Swinerton Builders, Turner Construction Co., WSP and ZGF Architects.

For more information, visit canstructionpdx.org.

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Teams of building industry professionals gathered at Pioneer Place this week for Canstruction, an annual design/build competition benefitting the Oregon Food Bank. Seven teams comprised of employees of 15 local architecture, engineering and construction firms built themed structures using cans and other packaged food items.

The event raised over 21,000 pounds of donated food, as well as several thousand dollars for the food bank, which is accepting donations at . The structures will remain on display at the mall through Sunday. To vote in the People’s Choice Award category, visit .

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Members of the local architectural, engineering, and construction community participated in the 20^th annual Canstruction event at Pioneer Place in downtown Portland this week. The annual design/build competition and art show serves as a food and fundraising drive for the Oregon Food Bank. Over the course of the event’s 20-year history in Portland, over one million meals have been created, with 540,000 pounds of donated food and $200,000 in cash donations.

This year, over 33,000 cans and packages of food used to construct nine themed sculptures, which will remain on display through Sunday. To vote in the People’s Choice category, visit .

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Members of the local architectural, engineering, and construction industries competed in the annual Canstruction event at Pioneer Place in downtown Portland this week. The annual design/build competition and art show serves as a food and fundraising drive for the Oregon Food Bank. This year, over 15,000 cans and packages of food used to construct five themed sculptures, which remain on display through Sunday, May 3. To vote in the People’s Choice award category, visit before May 3 at 5:00 p.m.

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Employees of local architecture, engineering, and construction industries teamed up for the Canstruction charity design competition Monday at Pioneer Place in downtown Portland. The annual event, sponsored by the Society for Design Administration, pits teams from local building industry firms against one another in a contest to build a themed structure using packaged foods. Over 29,000 cans were used by nine teams in this year’s competition, all of which will be donated to the Oregon Food Bank.

Awards will be given for Best Use of Labels, Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Jurors’ Favorite, and Honorable Mention. Additionally, a People’s Choice award will be given based on votes from the public on Canstruction Portland’s and paper ballots at the mall, where the sculptures will remain on display through Sunday, April 13.

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Employees of local architecture, engineering, and construction industries teamed up for the annual Canstruction competition at Pioneer Place in Portland Monday. The Society for Design Administration event pits teams of AEC firms against one another in an effort to design and build a themed structure using canned food. A jury will hand out prizes in several categories, and a People’s Choice Award will be presented based on which team receives the most votes on Canstruction Portland’s . The structures will be on display through Sunday, April 28.

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Nine teams competed to build structures almost entirely from canned foods in the Society for Design Administration-sponsored Canstruction event, which collects food and donations for the Oregon Food Bank.

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Last week nine teams ventured into the bowels of Pioneer Place to wage war against hunger… as well as each other.

Stacking can upon can, these teams – comprised of mostly architectural, engineering and construction firms – battled one another by erecting magnificent structures that would both raise hunger awareness and combat its devastating effects. Over the past 15 years, the has collected over 200 tons of canned food and raised nearly $120,000 to augment the Oregon Food Bank’s efforts to end hunger in our state.

Additionally, just over a month from now, on the bricks of Pioneer Courthouse Square, a similar competition will ensue in which many A/E/C teams will battle once again. Only this time, instead of cans, the structures will be made of sand, and instead of fighting hunger, the competition will support . Whether a spectator or a participant, is a can’t miss event.

So what’s the point of highlighting these competitions? Clearly they are great programs that provide a tremendous benefit to our community, but the same can be said for numerous groups and causes around town. So then why, in a time of limited philanthropic funds, should the A/E/C community come out in force to support these efforts? Well, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of competing in either, then you already know.

Both competitions do a fantastic job in paralleling the process of our chosen professions in creating the built environment. Each event requires that you select a team, strategize an approach, produce multiple iterations of design documents, perform constructability reviews, establish a budget, create a schedule and oh yea, execute the plan! Canstruction and Sand in the City are excellent forums for practicing the collaboration necessary to excel in our day-to-day work. Furthermore, they provide a platform for younger members of our firms to display their leadership and teamwork skills in a low stakes, design-build process that is strikingly similar to that of our professional endeavors. Finally, they create an atmosphere that is ripe for generating and fostering new and improved relationships with our built environment partners.

It is true that these events are a sizable undertaking. They require weeks of planning and a fair amount of resources to pull off effectively – and yes, you run the risk of cans falling down half way though, or a teammate backing into a formed and carved element of the sand sculpture – but the benefit of the experience and the industry friendships created are well worth the resources expended by any A/E/C firm willing to take on the challenge… and hey, in the end, win or lose, they both benefit great causes!

If you’d like to learn more about either event and how you can get involved, please visit and .

Eddie La Berge works in business development at Turner Construction. Contact him at elaberge@tcco.com.

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