Delighting kids and adults alike, an exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum is combining expertise, fun, and purpose.
The exhibit, called Canstruction, features several structures made mostly of canned food and it's the work of 12 teams of engineers, architects, and designers in the Milwaukee area.
“A lot harder to stack cans structurally than one might think,” HGA architect and participant Hannah Hobach said. “We use a lot of the tools we use in our everyday work.”
Representatives from Women in Design, which led the imitative said it was a friendly competition to see who could come up with the best build, using items you’d find at your local grocery store.
Each structure needed to incorporate at least one thousand non-perishable food items and designers couldn't use glue or tape to keep everything together.
“I am very impressed with what the teams have put forward,” Nathan Shieve said.
Shieve is the president of the Milwaukee chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which co-hosted the Canstruction awards ceremony Thursday.
He said as impressive as the designs are, it’s the message behind the builds, around food insecurity, that those involved are hoping leaves an impact.
“It makes me really humbled to think about that," he said.
Mark Shapiro runs the Jewish Community Pantry and was the first to bring Canstruction, a global initiative, to Milwaukee about 10 years ago.
He said events like these, with professionals using their expertise, take education around food insecurity to the next level.
"They become interesting, to get people to come and read and learn about the story,” Shapiro said. "Then the awareness of what the problem is grows the number of people who care about it, who want to make a difference.”
After the exhibit wraps on Sunday close to 35 thousand cans and other non-perishable food items will be headed to the Jewish Community Pantry for those in need.
Participating Canstruction teams were awarded in the following categories: best meal, best structural ingenuity, best use of labels, most cans, and the people’s choice.
The Jewish Community Pantry is open every Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. It's located at the corner of 29th and center.
For information on volunteer opportunities and to make food or financial donations you can visit JCC's website.
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