UC students build canned-food tower at Canstruction competition
UC students designed the canned-food tower before the competition using computer-aided design software. Image/Provided
A group of University of Cincinnati students built a canned-food replica of Union Terminal on Tuesday at the 22nd Annual Cincinnati Canstruction competition. The city-wide competition invites teams to build life-size structures out of canned food, which afterward is donated to the Freestore Foodbank.
UC’s chapter of the Construction Student Association sponsored this year’s team, which competed alongside 14 other teams, mostly composed of representatives from architecture and construction firms.
“The Canstruction competition is a great way to blow off steam and have fun while you’re hanging out with some of your friends,” said Mitch Rice, construction management student who co-led the UC team with fellow construction management student Kaikou Uchiyama.
The Canstruction competition took months to prepare for, from designing to building to simply transporting the cans from one place to another. Students, pictured here, also had to make the base for their canned-food towers. Photo/Provided
With its ties to a local foodbank, UC’s involvement in Canstruction reflects the urban impact platform of the university’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here.
Though the build on competition day only lasts five hours, the event took months of preparation. Students submitted their initial entries in November and their concept designs in December. They spent the next several months fundraising. In February they started prebuilding.
The canned-food structure took 5,000 cans to build. All the cans will be donated to the Freestore Foodbank. Photo/Provided
UC’s design of Union Terminal Tower required 7,000 cans to construct. Transporting these cans from the grocery store to campus and then up eight flights of stairs to the build room wasn’t an easy task. But it was a bonding experience, students said.
“It was a lot of work, but at the end of the day it was something that takes the mind off all the classes that everyone has,” Rice said. “We went out and got Skyline afterward.”
After the competition, jurors judge each structure for design, structural integrity and creativity. Winners for categorical awards like People’s Choice, Best Use of Labels and Most Cans are announced on Apr. 5 at the Construction Awards Gala, which takes place downtown at the Fifth Third Bank Theater.
Featured image at top: UC students construct the tower on the day of the competition. Photo/Provided
The UC students pose after completing their structure. From left to right: Kaikou Uchiyama, Michael Salzler, Mitchell Rice and Phillip Stoll. Photo/Provided
This year, the UC students built a canned-food tower of Union Terminal, an iconic landmark in Cincinnati. Photo/Provided
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