WALL-E

This past Saturday my firm participated in Canstruction, a national design competition. The contest begins at the local level then winning teams advance to regional, state and national judging.

As a brief explanation, Canstruction is an annual event in which teams* design and build structures out of cans and other non-perishable food items. After the judging and awards each structure is dismantled and all food items are donated to a food bank. During the build session the local newspaper snapped some photos which are available in a slideshow.

This is the first year my firm has competed and we feel very proud of our first attempt. This year's theme was Cartoon Heroes and we chose WALL-E as our inspiration. At our local level, the other four teams used only cans and made very large sculptures.** As first timers, we chose to do something on a smaller scale (closer to the 'real' proportions of WALL-E) and focus on varied materials rather than a complex structural system. Most of our research phase was spent scouring various grocery stores for the perfect grocery items to act as parts of WALL-E.

There's more to be proud of. The host for the local competition is Marbles Kids Museum and the entries are on display so that museum visitors can enjoy them. We have heard from several 'eye witnesses' that WALL-E is a favorite amongst the kiddos and many of them have had their picture taken with him. If only the kids got to vote in the judging...

Speaking of judging, the winners will be announced this Saturday so I'll let you know how we did!

P.S. - it's not too late to donate to this great cause! If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation drop leave me a comment and I'll get you hooked up!


*The competition is open to anyone but entrants are typically architecture and engineering firms.
**Click through the slideshow for examples of their progress.