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LaBella Wins Structural Ingenuity Award at 2023 CANstruction Rochester Ceremony

Butterfly structure results in 3,600 food items donated to Foodlink!

For the fourteenth year in a row, LaBella’s Rochester office fluttered into the winner’s circle at the 2023 CANstruction Rochester competition and donated over 3,600 canned food items to Foodlink!

CANstruction is a global not-for-profit organization that addresses hunger globally. CANstruction Rochester is an annual exhibit and design competition that brings AEC professionals together to create structures built entirely out of canned goods. After closing the exhibit, all canned goods and food items are donated to Foodlink.

This year’s theme, Discovering Cans at the Strong, led all participating teams on a hunt around the Strong Museum of Play in search of inspiration of what to build for this year’s competition. LaBella’s team, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butterfly Effect,” had a vision of building a larger-than-life butterfly, showcasing the hallmark Butterfly Garden at the museum. LaBella’s team planned, designed, and constructed the 8-foot-tall butterfly structure using more than 3,600 cans of mixed vegetables, potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. All accent pieces were edible as well, using beef jerky sticks for antenna and legs, and Ferrero Rocher chocolates as flower pollen.

The exhibit is on display from November 18th – December 2nd at the Strong Museum of Play, where visitors viewed and voted on the structures. Teams were judged on Best Use of Labels, Structural Ingenuity, Best Meal, Juror’s Favorite, and People’s Choice.

LaBella’s structure received the Structural Ingenuity Award for utilizing engineering and architectural principles to overcome design challenges!