Over the weekend, I headed over to the historic core of Downtown Los Angeles to check out this year’s entries to CANstruction LA.  If you have not heard of it before, this is an annual competition in which various teams of architects, designers, and engineers design-build structures using cans of food.  It is always great to see how creative and imaginative the teams are, but perhaps the best part of this event is that at its completion, all of the cans are donated to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank for distribution to those in need.  If you follow my writing, you may remember me talking about CANstruction previously in “Canstruction: Promoting Design and Fighting Hunger” and “Los Angeles as a Museums Capital: Part II.”  Last year’s event contributed over 21,000 pounds of food to the Foodbank.  Just like in 2013, this year’s friendly competition was held at the historic Farmers and Merchants Bank Building.  I enjoyed seeing the different entries and was again amazed by how much thought and effort the different teams invested in their projects.  While last year’s entries were primarily California icons like the State Flag, the LAX Theme Building, and the Port of Los Angeles, the 2014 entries are more diverse and appeal more to popular culture as shown in the photos below.  Enjoy! (For slideshow, click on any photo).

Note: All photos by author.