By Morgan Montalvo
WOAI News
It’s one of the Alamo City’s most creative charitable contests: the annual San Antonio Food Bank Can-struction Competition, in which contestants must build a display using only canned food.
Judges on Monday night named the event’s 2018 overall winner during a recognition ceremony at North Star mall, which hosted the competition. The partnership team of Alamo Architects and Turner Construction earned the overall winner spot for its design titled “Mata Hambre,” Spanish for “Kill Hunger,” depicted by a bullfighter with swirling cape.
The San Antonio Food Bank’s Michael Guerra says judges employ three main criteria to pick a winner: innovation, physical design, and culinary potential.
“Can you make a meal from it, right? Because, ultimately all the cans in Can-struction are going to go back to the Food Bank to feed families facing hunger,” Guerra said during the judging.
Guerra said Can-struction is the local food bank’s effort in support of National Hunger Action Month, observed each September.
He said all of the canned food used by Can-struction teams was provided by team or corporate donors. Although the formal bragging rights have been decided for another year, the public can still weigh in on the contest.
“There a People’s Choice that you can vote for. That’ll be up for two weeks,” he said.
Following the People’s Choice balloting the bullfighter sculpture, Guerra said, will be “de-can-structed and re-can-structed” in the San Antonio Food Bank lobby, where it will remain on display until next year’s event. The remaining entries will find their way - can by can – into food parcels for the area’s needy.
This year’s Can-struction winners are:
Overall and Best Original Design: “Mata Hambre”/”The Bullfighter,” Alamo Architects & Turner Construction Co.
Best Meal Items: “Structure Donkey Kong,” Merrick & Co.
Best Use of Labels: “Walk Around Can Antonio,” Marmon Mok
Best Use of the Color Orange (for hunger awareness):
“Food Fight,” Intelligent Engineering Services & Lopez Salas Architects
Best Structural Ingenuity: “El Luchador”/”Wrestling Mask,” Luna Middleman Architects
Most Cans: “Fork Knife Battle Hunger,” RVK Architects, Lundy & Frank Engineering, F.A. Nunnelly General Contractors