Canstruction 2023

Canstruction returns to Brookfield Place! The annual design competition challenges teams of architects, engineers, and contractors to build sculptures made entirely out of unopened cans of food. The large-scale sculptures are placed on display and later donated to City Harvest to help provide families with a holiday meal.

The 28 teams competing in this year’s competition include:

AKF, Arcadis, Arup, Beyer Blinder Belle, BluEdge, Burns & McDonnell, DeSimone Consulting Engineers, EP Engineering, Fairstead, Gannett Fleming Engineers & Architects, Gensler, Gilsanz Murray Steficek, LLP, HITT Contracting, HLW, HOK, KPFF Consulting Engineers, LERA Consulting Structural Engineers, McNamara Salvia, NV5, NYC Department of Buildings, PCP Architecture, Perkins Eastman, Severud Associates, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Stantec, Thornton Tomasetti, Urbahn Architects PLLC, Urban Architectural Initiatives (UAI), and WSP USA.

JURY DELIBERATION

On November 6, a distinguished panel of judges selected winners from 28 creative Canstruction sculptures within the following categories: Best Original Design, Best Use of Labels, Structural Ingenuity, Best Meal, Most Cans and 2 honorable mentions.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!

People’s Choice Award
This City Has Gone to the Birds by DeSimone Consulting Engineers

Cherie C. Melillo Honorary Award:
CARbie by Beyer Blinder Belle

Amy Nanni Whimsical Award:
Towering Above Hunger by Lera Consulting Structural Engineers

Most Cans:
KowaHUNGA by Gensler

Best Meal:
50th CANniversary of Hip Hop by WSP USA

Best Use of Labels:

CANtastic send off to the metro card by Arup

Structural Ingenuity:
KowaHUNGA by Gensler

Best Original Design:
This City Has Gone to the Birds by DeSimone Consulting Engineers

Honorable Mention #1:
CAN-senji Temple by Simpson Gumpertz and Heger

Honorable Mention #2:
Love Story (Canstruction Version) by Fairstead

Jurors include Chris Grabenstein, award-winning #1 NYT bestselling author; Jesse Lazar, Executive Director of the AIA New York Chapter; Ryan O’Connor, CEO of Clinton Management; Maneesh Goyal of SONA; Josh Cohen, Partner for Midnight Theatre & Hidden Leaf at Manhattan West; Max Tucci, author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller, Muse Creative Award-winning cookbook “The Delmonico Way.”

DONATE

Help the cause when you visit! Donate non-perishable food items at the donation bin near the escalators at 230 Vesey Street, Level 2.

You may also make a donation to Canstruction by clicking below. Your donation supports Canstruction’s programs and exhibitions which raise millions of pounds of food each year for local hunger relief organizations.

ABOUT CANSTRUCTION

Canstruction® New York is a 501(c)(3) Corporation. Canstruction, founded by the SDA, whose purpose is to advance management and administrative professionals in the A/E/C industry through education, networking, leadership, and resources. Canstruction hosts competitions and events worldwide, creating awe-inspiring, gigantic structures made entirely out of non- perishable food.

Teams of volunteers, which include design industry professionals, participate in Canstruction® events in over 100 cities each year. The can art sculptures are on exhibit to the public in each city where a competition is held. The public is invited to donate non-perishable food items during the exhibition. At the close of an exhibition, all food from the structures and public donations are donated to local food banks.

Canstruction® New York has donated over 2 million pounds of food to local food banks since 1993, and over 1.2 million pounds to City Harvest since 2006. Since 1992, Canstruction® has raised nearly 82 million pounds of food for hunger relief organizations around the world with its signature, trademarked CanArt.

ABOUT CITY HARVEST

City Harvest is New York’s first and largest food rescue organization, collecting perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste to help feed the millions of New Yorkers who struggle to put meals on their tables. In over 40 years serving New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity, we have rescued more than one billion pounds of fresh, nutritious food and delivered it—free of charge—to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens, community partners, and our own Mobile Markets® across the five boroughs. This year, we will rescue and distribute more than 77 million pounds of nutritious food to our neighbors in need. By redirecting that food to families, we will also prevent the equivalent of more than 20 million kilograms of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Named one of America’s Top 100 Charities by Forbes, City Harvest also works alongside our community partners to build their capacity, expand nutrition education, and advocate for systems change through effective public policy. Since our founding in 1982, City Harvest has always been there to feed our city—one day, one meal, one New Yorker at a time.