DALLAS — Some of the finest engineering, architecture and construction companies around recently built structures with materials they are not accustomed to using but were eager to prove they “can.”
CANstruction is an annual competition held around the world, including the past 31 years in Dallas where structures comprised of canned foods come together to form works of art. The companies built their canned canvases at NorthPark Center where they will remain for mallgoers to view and vote through Sunday, Sept. 10.
“It is a very unique experience trying to design with cans which is definitely not the normal medium for any of these companies,” said Rachel Gruber, an architect for Perkins & Will and former captain for their CANstruction team.
Some of the structures at NorthPark include Dallas landmarks such as the Deep Ellum Walking Man statue, the Downtown Eyeball, and the iconic Pegasus. Other “canstructions” include the animated dog Bluey, a locomotive, and a picture of legendary painter Bob Ross.
Much of the challenge is identifying what canned foods yield what color, much like pixels on a digital screen.
“I can tell you as a former team captain, once you start doing CANstruction, you never look at cans in a grocery store the same way ever again,” said Gruber. “You are looking at the front of the label, back of the label, looking at it through your phone, taking pictures of it.”
And ultimately, all the cans end up in the hands of people who need them most. The 22 projects at NorthPark used a total of 115,833 cans of food that will be donated to the North Texas Food Bank. Additionally, mall shoppers can spend $1 to cast their vote for the People’s Choice award winner with that money also helping NTFB provide meals for those in need.
The winning CANstruction projects will then be submitted as entries into the international competition.
More Texas headlines: