Did you recognize the character?
I admit I had to look at in my smart phone camera before I could identify who it was: Kevin from the Home Alone Christmas comedy movie.
Built entirely of canned goods, the sculpture was one of several canstructions I saw at the Wayne State University Welcome Center this weekend as part of Detroit’s annual Noel Night celebration.
The sculptures were made entirely of unopened canned goods.
We’ve been going to Noel Night for years, but never went inside the Welcome Center at Wayne State.
It was always packed with people.
Now I know why!
About Canstruction
A non-profit hosting events that build art sculptures out of canned food that benefit local food banks, Canstruction was founded in 1992 by Cheri Melillo.
As chairperson of the Society for Design Administration in New York, Melillo developed Canstruction as a friendly competition to bring the design and construction community together.
Events have been held around the world.
Canstruction in Detroit
In Detroit, the Americian Institute of Architects Detroit chapter partners with Gleaners Community Food Bank and local engineering and architectural firms for the annual Canstruction at Noel Night.
This years’s sculpture participants include:
- Gensler Detroit
- Albert Kahn Associates
- Kraemer Design Group
- PARTNERS in Architecture<//li>
- PLC Ghafari Associates
- SmithGroup
When I was viewing the different Canstruction sculptures, I met Philip from a local design firm who told me how his company competed in the design competition in the past.
He told me it was a lot of work, starting with identifying a design that will fit each year’s theme.
Their team creates the design with a 3-D application so they can plan for the color and number of cans needed to create the design.
From there, they order the canned food from Kroger (one of the local sponsors) and build the design.
After the competition, all the canned food is donated to Gleaners.
What a cool idea for team building and raising money for local food banks!
