Penn State Brandywine has been selected as the first ever university team to compete in this year’s Canstruction competition in Philadelphia. Canstruction is a foundation of the Society for Design Administration that holds competitions nationwide challenging engineers, architects and students to construct designs made out of canned goods that are then donated to local food banks.
The team of honors scholars has chosen to work with cans of Campbell’s Condensed Soup and are hosting a drive on campus to collect as many of the 10.7 ounce cans (with the pull tab top) as possible. Each can will be used to build their structure, titled “We Are Penn State, We Can Make A Difference.”
The structure will be judged on most creative design, best use of labels and most nutritious meal.
The team plans to construct the Nittany Lion logo out of blue and white tuna fish cans on a wall art mural. Bricks and mortar will be constructed out of cans of baked beans. The mural wall will be eight feet wide by eight feet tall. The Campbell’s Condensed Soup will be used to provide structural stability to the wall.
“The soup cans will not only provide the structural stability we need, but the soup adds a hidden strength of a more nutritious meal,” said Associate Professor of Earth Sciences Laura Guertin, who serves as adviser to the team of honors students. The students need 888 cans of soup to stabilize the structure.
After the competition, which typically features, “canstructions” of everything from dinosaurs to cars, every can will be given to Philabundance, the region’s largest food bank.
Cans of Campbell’s Condensed Soup can be dropped off in blue boxes in the Vairo Library, Campus Bookstore, Office of Student Affairs (second floor Commons Building) and the Tomezsko Classroom Building Lounge until April 8. The competition will take place in May and the structure can be viewed at The Shops at Liberty Place on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia from May 14-21.
For more information, contact the Penn State Brandywine Canstruction team at canstruction@bw.psu.edu.