As part of the BSA Space installation at HUBweek, visitors participated in building a structure for Canstruction Boston! This fun and challenging task is typically reserved for architects and engineers, but passersby of all ages were welcomed into the building zone to construct the MBTA design from the theme: Celebrate 20 Years in Boston! The design was created by Bruner/Cott Architects, and laid out in SketchUp by BSA SketchUp Bootcamp Chair Michael Born, ASAI, of Born Illustration. The public was also involved by donating cans, but it was hard to keep up with the generous donation of over 1000 cans by Tocci Building Corporation!

Visitors made quick work of building and finished the structure in a record-breaking 3 hours! This could not have been accomplished without the help of all builders of all ages – from 9 to 92.

The activity around the Canstruction build out pointed the 50,000+ HUBweek visitors back to BSA Space to view the 21 colossal hero and villain structures on view as part of Canstruction Boston through October 26, 2018.

The BSA was further represented by modular bamboo towers, designed and fabricated by OAC Boston volunteer John Bellavance. The towers demonstrated an efficient design of reconfigurable, low cost, lightweight structures with thoughtful joints for quick assembly, which also acted as displays for the BSA and several of its ongoing partnerships: Open Architecture Collaborative Boston (OAC); resilientSEE; Syria Initiative for Refugee Children; and Build Health International (BHI). A panel of representatives from these entities presented "Creating Resilient Communities through War and Disaster" later that afternoon on the HUBweek Media Stage.

Creating Resilient Communities through War and Disaster featured four powerhouse architects and designers who discussed the future of housing in the face of growing human migration and displacement due to violence, famine, persecution, and climate change on the HUBweek Media Stage. The aim of this session was to make visible the voices, movements, and activities of those living in at-risk neighborhoods, temporary encampments, or other impermanent “permanent” shelters due to these factors in Boston, Haiti, Lebanon, and more. On stage was Rob Freni AIA, Director of Architecture, Building Health International (BHI); Natasha Espada AIA, LEED BD+C, Principal, STUDIO ENÉE architects; Patricia Seitz AIA, Professor and Head of Graduate Architecture Program, MassArt; and Michael McHugh, Open Architecture Collaborative. View a video of the discussion here.