This year’s annual Canstruction® event held at Fashion Center at Pentagon City from September 5-13 and hosted by AIA Northern Virginia’s Community Service Committee, in partnership with Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB), was can-tastic! An experienced group of teams from local architecture firms – including Jacobs, MTFA, MW Architects, Samaha, and Wiley|Wilson – used creativity, innovation, and teamwork to make their imaginative designs come to life!
As the teams worked fervently, local news network WUSA9 stopped by to broadcast the event, interviewing participants and showcasing the incredible structures. It’s estimated that this annual community hunger relief initiative collected over 16,000 cans, worth approximately $25,000, which were then donated to CAFB after the week-long event to provide meals for local residents.
In honor of AIA NoVA’s 50th Anniversary, the Community Service Committee also dedicated a CanArt® sculpture to celebrate this monumental milestone. The 50th Anniversary sculpture featured a larger-than-life CAN embossed with the number 50 to commemorate five decades of architectural excellence and community service.
The day after the sculptures were completed, a 7-person jury panel met to deliberate and decide the winners. This year’s jury included: Christopher Kehde, AIA, 2025 AIA Northern VA President and Executive VP and Managing Director of FGM Architects; Chef Pepe Moncayo of Cranes Restaurant in DC; Shay Ramdeen, Director of Operations at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City; Robert Wetzel, Assistant Community Bank Manager at Burke & Herbert Bank; Allie Ditzel, AIA, Senior Project Architect with HGA; Eric Matzke, Structural Project Engineer with HGA; and AIA NoVA’s own Past President. April Drake, AIA.
The 2025 Canstruction® Northern Virginia Award winners were announced at a reception held at Matchbox in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City on September 11. Awards were given to teams whose projects used the most cans, displayed uniquely original design, demonstrated the greatest structural ingenuity, best used the cans’ labels to give life to the design, and used cans, that when combined, created the most delicious meal.
The 2025 Canstruction® Northern Virginia Award Winners are:
Honorable Mention:
We’re Not in CAN-sas Anymore! Designed and built by MTFA
Most Cans:
Making Hunger Extinct, designed and built by Wiley|Wilson
Best Meal:
Summer Vibes, designed and built by Jacobs
Structural Ingenuity:
CAN-Pybaras, designed and built by MW Architects
Best Use of Labels:
Fueling Kindness – One Can in the Bug! Designed and built by SAMAHA
Best Original Design:
Summer Vibes, designed and built by Jacobs
People’s Choice Award:
CAN-Pybaras, designed and built by MW Architects
Canstruction® is more than a competition—it’s a movement. Whether you’re an architect, student, volunteer, or just a fan of capybaras made from cans, there’s a place for you in this fight against hunger.
As we close out our 2025 AIA NoVA Canstruction® event, we again want to thank our sponsors MEP Designs, Inc.; Cranes Restaurant, D.C.; Sherwin-Williams; and Burke & Herbert Bank for making this event possible.
To learn more, donate, or get involved, visit aianova.org/canstruction.
Published: 09/23/2025
Share This Article