Some spectacular structural engineering with the use of trusses, whose names we cannot even pronounce! Still, the fact that they use Arizona Ice Tea cans to withstand the “stress” is a happy co-incidence and one that we understand!
Cans: 2600
Category: best structure and best use of labels
Our absolute favorite toy which you can find at kiddie parties and hopefully some fun adult ones:)!
We are not at liberty to tell you directly about the concept you see- hence the roundabout description…!
Cans: 3500- hugely diff from the 15,000 this team had last year.
USP: structure is organic compared to last year’s entry, organic food, crab meat cans that make up the large part if the structure and use of twine instead of suspension bridge grade cable !
Truly fun!
Pic in a bit….
Nuff said!
Team: Arup
Concept (our interpret of it) to build a giant peeling fruit that is cool structurally
Cans: about 3000
Category: Best meal
USP: all veggie and seasonal food!
Canstruction is special this year. Rather 2013 is going to be a special year for Canstruction. Because it takes place TWICE. Once for last year (2012) in February and then another one on the regular schedule in November 2013 as it always does.
As many stories of compassion and kindness have come out since Hurricane Sandy here are the ones related to Canstruction.
Jennifer Greene from Canstruction sat with us and told us that in her 20 years of being with the organization, every year is special. The first Canstruction started with 8 teams/entries, and this year the expected teams were going to be 31. But the Hurricane threw it off and this rescheduled date has 24 teams participating. What of the 7 that decided not to participate in the competition?
In the true spirit of Canstruction, all teams donated their can collections right away to City Harvest so that they can be used for hurricane relief work. And 2 of those teams are back with MORE cans to build out tonight! Such spirit!
Lisa Sposato, Associate Director for City Harvest, greatly appreciates the spirit of this particular Canstruction event because it brings to mind the issues pertaining to hunger and food scarcity in people’s consciousness even when it is not holiday time. These cans will be making their way to all 5 boros through City Harvest’s distribution network.
Finally both Canstruction and City Harvest acknowledge the role and generosity of Brookfeild Properties who are hosting this event despite the fact that it is not part of the normal schedule of events at Brookfield for the year.
Enough of this sentimentality….let’s get down to see some cool designs!
After radio silence for so many weeks, nay, months we are back.
Why were were gone? Busy, Life, Work, Other Responsibilities etc – you know the drill
Why we are back? Because it is CANSTRUCTION time again in NYC!!!!
Reporting LIVE is one of things we love and the guys at Brookfield and BEAST SOCIAL have been so nice to invite us to report live on Canstruction 2012- which is actually taking place in 2013 folks, because of that superstorm that hit us….remember Sandy?
Yep.
But in the spirit of giving that is Canstruction- nothing phases these guys and the folks that participate. So what if it is no longer 2012. The show and the giving must go on!
And such a worthy cause!
For those who do not know- here is a link to their site.
So buildout starts tonight at 6:00 ( or 7:00pm) Eastern and we will be there and here, bringing it to you. Live. Fun. NYC Love.
So I am back from my trip. There are many promises to my self that I did not keep and then others that I did a lot better on, than expected.
For instance- DID: Meet many people, Travel locally, Enjoy every moment, Just CHILL, Eat a LOT of good food, and Shop but only for myself (something I have not done in a while).
DID NOT: Blog as much as I would have hoped- but simply because some places did not have internet connectivity, or I was just too busy doing the “DID” List (see above). Sketch for my sketchbook project (ah shame, again the DID list is to blame). Meet my grandma one last time before I flew.
Of the DID NOT list, I apologize to myself and the readers for not keeping promises. But to my grandma- I am truly truly sorry. I wish I could duplicate myself, but I have wished for that many times these past two months.
Still, it may help you to know while you stay warm and toasty in that lovely room of yours- it is snowing here…!
Silence on the Blog means that the non-blog life has been hectic beyond imagination! As it turns out, it is quite a lot of work to travel overseas if it involved more than one person…especially if that one person is doing most of the organizing!
We look forward to posting more regularly, of travel, of unique and fun design, and just musings over the next few weeks. In the meantime, you all have a great holiday season and you’ll hear from me much more regularly. I promise.
Dear Readers,
We hope you enjoyed reading about Canstruction here. We were also live tweeting as the awards were being given out-hope you caught that on Twitter (@ASMDESIGN1) last night.
This past week has been unusually weird and busy in a number of ways. Things are changing elsewhere and at ASM Design- professionally as well as personally. During this time (and it may be for the next 2 months or so) there are happy moments, planned travel overseas (India and around) and some necessary tasks that must be taken care of. In the midst of this, we will try our hardest to maintain regularity of our featured posts, but sometimes we may not be able to make our daily schedule.
Posting is a commitment we take very seriously. We work quite hard to make sure that you get something unique each time you visit. And if we blog about what others are blogging about too, then we try to make it unique in our own way-either by being the only LIVE blogger or by providing our own spin on it.
We hope that you will pardon our occasional absence from now until the end of the year. Keep checking back for fun stuff, more KidSpace, UrbSpace and LightSpace!
Love- ASM DESIGN
Apologies for the delay everyone. Unavoidable circumstances and all…
SO here’s what you guys have been waiting for (and finally found it on other internet sites and blogs): Completed Canstruction Entries for this year: My FAVES! The awards get announced Nov 14th so watch this space for an updated.
My FAVE for STRUCTURAL INGENUITY
Skanska, USA are working on the actual renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge right now. The team decided to build it, fully structural, just like the real bridge! Since I have a love for all bridges and all ideas that start off crazy-this one would have to be my pick for STRUCTURAL INGENUITY. (Although b/w you and me, they could have worked on making those tension cable “strings” POP a bit more visually. Right now they sort of merge into the structure from every angle that you look at it. I had to work a bit to get them to show in my pictures, but that could just mean I’m not a great photographer)
Here’s the “official” pic, courtesy Canstruction/Kevin Wick.
I’m also rooting for an HONORABLE MENTION for “Alexander McCan” by KPF Architects. These guys won the GOYA sponsorship for their idea. But the manner in which they constructed this giant shoe is incredible. They used a 3 can matrix, lined them up on plans and taped them together. They use minimal supporting/layering elements AND managed to get a pattern on the front of their ginormous rendition of Alexander McQueen shoe.
My FAVES for BEST of SHOW
Again SKANSKA’s bridge simply because the it is awesome. However I have a couple of other faves in close succession.
The “Loaded Dice” by Gensler and WSP Flack & Kurtz. Why? Because it is a cube so perfectly made! The slice out of the cube, represents the near perfect use of color from the labels. (At one level it reminds me of this cake by Darla, one of my favorite bakers) Of course the Gensler+WSP team is gunning for everything but I think they are a shoo-in for BEST MEAL but also might get BEST Of SHOW. Also, if there was an award for Best-Music-Played-While-Building-Can-Sculpture and Most-co-ordinated-team, they would have gotten that one as well.
The “official” pic, courtesy Canstruction/Kevin Wick.
My FAVE for BEST USE of LABELS
The “Root Against Hunger” by Dattner Architects. Simply because it is a really great way of getting a 3D quality to your Can-sculpture and using putting labels to real good use. And their T-shirts matched their idea for their sculpture. I think they may get BEST USE of LABELS.
My FAVE for JURY’s FAVORITE
I would have to say that this one is a tie between Skanska’s Bridge and Gensler+WSP’s Cube.
My FAVES for HON. MENTIONS
Actually titled “Hungry Birds”, Ennead Architects target are inspired by this populist icon of present day gaming. They wanted to build something that would appeal to adults and kids alike. I’d say they’re bang on the can!
But the jury is still out on whether DeSimone Architects did a better job than Ennead.
“Can-tanership” by Halcrow. These guys have been wanting to participate in Canstruction for many years now. Finally here, their idea is simple, elegant and reflective of what their company’s strengths are.
The Converse Shoe. Loving the lace.
Stop/Walk sign by CetraRuddy
“Ti-canic” by Robert Silman Associates
(These folks also get the prize for Great-Sense-of-Humour while building their sculpture)
ASM DESIGN 