Winning firm back for 2nd year of Canstruction

Tuesday, 07 February 2012 by Justin Cox

Last year’s Canstruction winner, Architectural Edge is back for its second year with a new design.Belton's inaugural participation in the International Canstruction event did more than just raise much-needed funds and food supplies for Helping Hands Ministries to aid needy families – it proved to be the first public showing of the can creation of Temple-based Architectural Edge, which went on to win the international first place award.

Canstruction will take place Thursday night, Feb. 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. It is open to the general public, and admission is $5 or a can of food.

Out of thousands of participants, it was the face of an ancient Egyptian emperor created with cans, dreamed up by the designers at a Central Texas architectural firm, that beat out hundreds of entries from all over the world.

Architural Edge's Randy Stumberg served as the project leader for the firm last year, and is once again producing a piece in this year's competition.

The firm has spent approximately $2,500 in supplies for this year's build, consisting of about 3,000 cans, all of which will be part of the donation to Helping Hands of Belton.

The team has been practicing diligently and is ready for next week's assembly, which must be completed in less than three hours.

Stumberg, who leads the only engineering team from the group of 9 other competitors, said that this year's piece is far different from last year.

"We didn't give ourselves the same expectations," he said. "This year instead of trying to match last year's project, were going in a different direction. Last year, since it was our first time to participate in the project, we didn't really know the structural nature of the cans and wasn't sure if certain designs would work properly. So we kept it simple."

Where last year's structure was fairly linear in its shape, using a straightforward construction, this year's is much different.

"This year's project is much more of a complex structure," Stumberg said. "Last year's was an 8x8 foot base and goes up. This year's is more of a fun design and uses a lot more geometry and counterbalances. This one definitely incorporates more advanced engineering principles."

Stumberg wants to save the surprise for the competition and let the public judge for themselves.

Helping Hands's Rucker Preston is in charge of the event and hopes that the exposure from last year's success brings more people to the event than last year.

At the completion of Canstruction Belton, all of the cans of food will be taken down and transported to Helping Hands Ministry of Belton. The food will be used to bolster the food pantry of Helping Hands. All other funds raised from the weekend will be used to purchase food for those in need in our community.

Preston said that four of the teams that competed last year will once again compete this year. All the participants pay an entry fee of $125 and provide all their own cans and manpower.

In addition, a silent auction will take place throughout the weekend; beginning at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 and closing at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4.

This year's event will again take place at the Campus Mayborn Center located on the campus of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. This year, the public will be invited to view the structures as they are being built on Feb. 2.

All structures will be on display to the public for free on Friday and Saturday Feb. 3 and 4. Canstruction Belton invites all who come to bring a non-perishable food item or a $1 donation as admission. All who visit to see the structures on display will be able to vote for their favorite exhibit.

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