RIAGC and AIA's Canstruction event April 10-24 at Prov. Place Mall

Despite tough times in the commercial construction world, a group of architects, construction and engineering professionals, architecture and construction management students, and a wholesale natural food distributor have banded together to help relieve the hardship of the growing numbers of Rhode Islanders facing hunger. Their determined efforts will help to raise tens of thousands of dollars worth of food for the R.I. Community Food Bank next month. Eight teams will design and build sculptures from thousands of cans of food in R.I.'s third annual Canstruction sculpture competition. The sculptures will remain on exhibit for two weeks after they are built along the Providence Place Mall's Skybridge Concourse on April 10. Winners in various categories of the Canstruction competition will be announced on April 22. The teams include: * Consigli Construction * Dimeo Construction and Vision 3 Architects * Gilbane Building Company and Roger Williams University * Innovative Office Interiors with Durkee Brown Viveiros and Werenfels Architects and United Natural Foods * Jo Ann Bentley Architects * Lerner | Ladds + Bartels and Shawmut Design and Construction * Robinson Green Beretta Architects * Saccoccio & Associates with DiPrete Engineering and the Young Constructors Forum. "We are very grateful for the efforts of these teams at a time when the numbers of Rhode Islanders served by emergency food programs has grown to more than 50,000 a month," said Andrew Schiff, chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. "This year the Canstruction Rhode Island board encouraged teams to seek additional partners and multiple sponsors to share responsibility for the donations required to buy the canned foods," said Drayton Fair, AIA, ALA, LEED AP, a past-president of the American Institute of Architects Rhode Island chapter and a partner at Lerner | Ladds + Bartels, who is co-chair for the event. Canstruction Rhode Island is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization so donations are tax deductible. According to co-chair Michael Busam, also co-chair of the Young Constructors Forum of the Rhode Island Associated General Contractors (RIAGC) and a project engineer at Gilbane Building Co., in previous years, teams built their sculptures to illustrate a general theme, but this year, there is an open competition with each team deciding its own theme. "Teams keep their plans confidential so the suspense is already building toward the April 10 unveiling," he said.