CANctuary, a structure of cans of tuna fish, designed by engineers and architects at GMS and currently on view at Brookfield Place, as won the Cheri Award of the 24th annual Canstruction competition.
Canstruction is an international charity competition where 26 teams of architects, engineers, contractors and the students they mentor, competed this year to design and build giant structures made entirely from cans of food. At the close of the competition all of the food from the New York City competition will be donated to City Harvest.
New York City is joined by over 100 cities across North America and other countries such as Australia and New Zealand who will hold Canstruction Competitions in the coming year. Highlighting the creativity and compassion of top architectural, engineering and construction firms, these astounding structures are helping to change the world – by lifting the spirits of those in need, by raising public awareness, and most importantly, by collecting millions of pounds of food for local food banks.
It doesn’t matter if it is called a mosque, a synagogue or a chapel. Throughout the world people find sanctuary and hope in spaces like ours. It is a place to reflect on how lucky we are… and consider how the structures we create can protect and nourish others, physically and spiritually.
Ameen, Amen, Hallelujah.
“CANctuary” will be on display at 200 Vesey Street (Brookfield Place) until November 16, 2016.
CANctuary was awarded the 2016 Cheri Award. This award is presented by the family of Cheri Melillo to the sculpture that best represents the spirit of the competition. Cheri helped found Canstruction in New York through the Society of Design Administration.
The GMS team is proud of everyone who collaborated on this effort:
Eugene Kim, Ignacio Tello, Isabel Lorenzo, Itay Bohbot, William Hutch, Noelia Alvarez, Vicki Arbitrio, Helena Ariza, Sanchit Arora, Carolyn Bai, Louise Chatelain-Lacam, Virginia Diaz, Daniel Gleave, Daniel Kinsley, John Larkey, Anthony Nicolle, Jerome Pitance, Angel Ramos, Alexandra Horenstein, Mark Beltramello, David Kazibwe, Lois Vales, Petr Vancura, Yanghong Wei. We would like to especially thank all the partners of Gilsanz Murray Steficek for their support during this year’s Canstruction competition.
City Harvest pioneered food rescue in 1982 and, this year, will collect 55 million pounds of excess food to help feed the nearly 1.4 million New Yorkers struggling to put meals on their tables. Through relationships with farms, restaurants, grocers, and manufacturers, City Harvest collects nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and delivers it free of charge to 500 soup kitchens, food pantries and other community food programs across the five boroughs. City Harvest takes a long-term approach to hunger relief through its Healthy Neighborhoods initiative. In communities with elevated rates of food insecurity, poverty and diet-related illnesses, City Harvest has developed programs and partnerships to increase the availability of affordable, fresh produce and inspire healthy, budget-conscious meal choices through nutrition education. To learn more about food rescue, hunger relief and Healthy Neighborhoods in New York City, visit cityharvest.org.