Canstruction zone

Architecture sophomore Michael Chang aligns cans to keep the structure stable. The structure has no internal support. Monica Lamadrid

AIAS adviser Isabel Garcia reads the Best Use of Labels Award. This is the chapter’s first award in four years of participation. The structures are on display until Sept. 21. Monica Lamadrid

Competition challenges design skills, feeds the hungry

By Monica Lamadrid

mlamadrid@student.alamo.edu

This college’s chapter of American Institute of Architecture Students won the Best Use Of Labels Award Monday in Canstruction, an annual competition for professionals and students in North Star Mall.

Canstruction is a nonprofit organization dedicated to end hunger. The competition takes place in 215 cities worldwide and gathers about 210 million pounds of food a year for local food banks.

Alexis Rocha, environmental architecture and engineering sophomore, checks the layout of the pattern of cans against the design with architecture sophomore Henry Urbina. Monica Lamadrid

The local sponsors are the Food Bank, American Institute of Architecture San Antonio and the Society for Design Administration.

The Best Use Of Labels Award is given to participants who use the labels in a creative way in the design.

After the display ends Sept. 22, all the cans will be donated to local food banks.

This year, Canstruction supported the San Antonio Food Bank and Whataburger’s “SA Goes Orange” campaign for hunger awareness.

Shoppers in North Star Mall watch the students’ progress. The San Antonio College team was the last one to finish construction. Participants had to complete construction between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Monica Lamadrid

Teams were encouraged to use this theme in their designs.

The competition included 13 teams from around the city. This college’s AIAS chapter was the only school participating. The other teams consisted of architecture, engineering and construction firms.

This is the first competition for the newly elected president of the chapter, architecture sophomore Michael Chang.

Chang and the secretary of the club, Alexis Rocha, environmental architecture and engineering sophomore, went to the kickoff meeting June 12 where they were given the theme and the location of their display in the mall.

Alexis Rocha sets up the base for the first building of the design while architecture sophomore Tiffany Smith resupplies her. Monica Lamadrid

Luby’s Inc. donated $2,500 and H-E-B gave $100 in gift cards to buy 3,000 cans.

Former student Hector Reyes, assistant project manager in Malitz Construction Inc., said he was proud of the team because he knew gathering the resources was the most difficult part.

“We wanted to support students’ efforts of having a team, and we realized that students will learn more by focusing on design rather than raising money. So we found a natural partner in Luby’s, which allows students to focus on the design problem,” said Torrey Stanley Carleton, executive director of AIA San Antonio, after the students received their award.

Chang said, “We had to go to H-E-B, measure all the cans, take pictures of the cans to see which ones are suitable. We took them home and got all the measurements to make the sketches.”

After seven hours of stacking cans, the AIAS chapter of this college poses with the structure. Monica Lamadrid

After three rejected designs, Chang and Rocha decided to go with a design called “Face of Change,” a city landscape that looks like a face when seen from the right angle.

“This city will face the people and reflect its image with the cans that have created it,” Chang said, describing the piece.

Structures could not exceed 10-by-10-by-8 feet and had to be made primarily with cans.

The display can be seen from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday trough Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at North Star Mall, 7400 San Pedro Ave.