CANstruction

For the 18^th year the American Institute of Architects of Northern Nevada (AIANN) prepares for CANstruction, presented by Growing Smiles Pediatric Dentistry, an event to benefit the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.  There are nine participating this year, with five of those being student teams.  Each team designs a structure that they will create out of canned food and which will be judged, viewed and finally donated to the hungry in the community through the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.

This year’s CANstruction event will be held at Meadowood Mall from Wednesday, May 19 through Sunday May 23, 2021.  The structures will be built during a twelve-hour period on Wednesday, May 19.  Teams will gather with their food and build in the mall keeping the structure inside a 10’x10’x10’ area.  Teams will practice teamwork, planning, design and giving back to the community all at one event.  Participants and spectators of CANstruction this year are asked to wear masks and practice social distancing when possible to help keep all involved safe.

“We are excited that even with the challenges throughout the last year, we are able to come together to build structures that will ultimately serve the many families who need help in our community right now,” said Fred Graham, architect and CANstruction committee co-chairman for northern Nevada.  “I always look forward to CANstruction and I am grateful that we will have five student teams joining us this year.”

The structures will be judged on Thursday morning by a panel of jurors in 5 categories.  Teams will be competing for the following awards:  Best Original Design, Structural Ingenuity, Best Meal, Best Use of Labels and Most Cans.  This year’s award will be held virtually to limit the number of people that will in one place at a time.  All entries will be submitted to the national level of CANstruction to be judged at the international level against award winners in over 100 other cities worldwide.    The public is invited to vote in the People’s Choice award from 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 19 through Monday, May 24.    Each vote is $1 and all of the money goes to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada where $1 helps to deliver 3 meals to those who need them.  People’s choice voting will take place virtually with a ($10 vote minimum) at fbnn.org.  The structures will be on display, however, throughout the weekend at Meadowood Mall for the public to see.