Hawaii's design community believes we can build a world without hunger, one can at a time. To that end, teams of local architects and allied design and construction professionals will "canstruct" giant structures made entirely out of canned foods.

Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorite creations via food donations while they are on display throughout Pearlridge Uptown for two weeks. On Sunday, Sept. 7, the structures will be "de-canstructed" and the food delivered to the Hawaii Foodbank.

"AIA Honolulu is extremely proud to present Canstruction in Hawaii," explains architect Joy Davidson, AIA, of Mason Architects and co-chair of this annual event. "The exhibit showcases each team's design abilities while offering everyone the opportunity to help feed the hungry in our community."

"With the price of rice, eggs and milk increasing by double-digits, the normal reaction is to tighten our belts. But thousands of island families have no belts to tighten," explains Polly Kauahi, director of fund development at the Hawaii Foodbank. "Canstruction 2008 will make a major contribution towards feeding these members of our community."

Canstruction is a national community service program created by the Society for Design Administration on behalf of the design and construction industry. The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Honolulu Chapter presents the annual Canstruction competition in Hawaii. Canstruction is also sponsored by Pearlridge Center, C & S Wholesale Grocers and Honblue.

Structures will be limited to a footprint of eight feet by eight feet and may be no taller than eight feet. Awards - determined by a jury of prominent island architects, public servants and other members of the community - will be presented in categories including Jurors' Favorite, Structural Ingenuity, Best Use of Labels and Best Meal. The structure that receives the most votes from members of the public (one can equaling one vote) during the two-week exhibition will be named People's Choice Award winner.

The winning teams from the local Canstruction competitions will vie at the national level. Over 100 Canstruction competitions are scheduled in cities across the U.S. and Canada this year.

Competing teams in the local competition include Actus Lend Lease/Hickam Community Housing, Allana Buick Bers, Belt Collins, Design Partners/Castle & Cooke, Durrant Media Five, Ferraro Choi & Associates, Fung Associates, Group 70 International, Kiewit Building Group, Parsons Brinkerhoff, U.S. CAD Hawaii/Next Design, Urban Works and WATG.

For more information, visit www.AIAHonolulu.org.

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