Annual Canstruction^® Competition

CANtennial: Design of the Decades

Celebrating 21 years of Canstruction in Honolulu

Build Day TBD in September 2026 at Kahala Mall

Since its inception, AIA Honolulu’s Canstruction® Competition has gathered
787,005 pounds of canned goods – enough food to make 712,826 meals.

2026 Competition Dates

Build Day: Saturday, September TBD from 9am-2pm
Where: Kahala Mall
Keiki Corner: TBD
Structures Up: TBA
Structures on display for public viewing and People's Choice Award voting

21st Annual CANstruction Theme - CANtennial: Design of the Decades!

In honor of AIA Hawai‘i’s 100th anniversary, the 2026 Canstruction® theme invites teams to celebrate a century of creativity, culture, and design. CANtennial: Designs of the Decades challenges each team to bring an assigned decade to life by reimagining an iconic object, place, movement, or moment from that era—entirely out of canned goods. From the bold beginnings of the 1920s to the innovations of today, this theme highlights how design reflects its time while contributing to a collective legacy built over 100 years.

Registration Open for Information Meeting Feb 18

Are you interested in creating a team for the 2026 Canstruction® Competition?
If so, attend this informational/kick-off meeting where we will go over this year’s competition rules and projected format!

When: Wednesday, February 18, 12-1PM
Where: AIA Honolulu Center for Architecture, 828 Fort Street Mall, Suite 100
RSVP: Click HERE to RSVP for this meeting.

Questions? Email Tiffany Tabbal, Allied Member, or Lisa Nguyen, Assoc. AIA. our Canstruction Committee Chairs

Canstruction Team Registration Opens March 2 - Max 10 Teams!

Enter Online: Team registration opens Monday, March 2, 2026
Entry Fee: $200 per Canstruction® Team
Team Limit: Max 10 teams, five to ten members per team.

Who CAN Participate? We encourage members of the Design and Building Industries to join forces and participate in this fun community effort i.e. architects, engineers, contractors, and other design-related professionals.

What is Canstruction^®?

Competing teams, lead by architecture firms, allied designers and engineering and construction professionals will design and build structures by using canned goods and other non-perishable foods. Structures, ranging in size from 1,500 to 13,000 cans are created by stacking a variety of can sizes and shapes using the product labels as the color pallete. Structurally self-supporting, the only other materials to be used are 1/4inch leveling, cardboard, tape, rubber bands and wire. At the close of the exhibitions all of the food used in the structures is donated to the Hawai‘i Foodbank.

Canstruction^® is a national community service program trademarked and created by the Society for Design Administration (SDA) on behalf of the design and construction industry. 1 in 6 people and 1 in 4 children in Hawai‘i are facing hunger. The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Honolulu Chapter, working in tandem with the Hawai‘i Foodbank presents the annual Canstruction^® competition in Hawai‘i.

Canstruction^® is a design/build competition held in cities throughout North America. Visit the official Canstruction^® website (Web), hosted by the Society for Design Administration (SDA), and view photos of other cities’ winners. Canstruction^® is trademarked by the SDA.

View the 2025 Winners

View All Past Winners