House of cards

The structures created using this method rely on nothing more than balance and friction in order to stay upright. Ideally, adhesives or other external connecting methods are not used, and no damage or alterations are made to the cards themselves. The larger the structure, the higher the number of balanced cards that could fail and compromise the integrity of the card building. Professional card stacker and trained architect Bryan Berg claims, however, that the more cards placed on a tower the stronger it becomes because the weight of the cards pushing down on the base (increasing friction) allows occasional cards to stumble without the entire structure collapsing. He also claims that proper stacking technique allows cards to function as shear walls, giving considerable stability to the structure.

{{Gallery

|title=Different types of card stacking

|width=160

|height=170

|align=center

|footer=From left to right: Balance and support, stacking, architecture, bridging gaps

|File: HouseOf CardsBalancingCenteralCard.jpg

|alt1=A demonstration of using cards for balancing and support

|A house of cards balancing a single card between its walls

|File:StackedHoueOfCards.jpg

|alt2=A demonstration of stacking

|A house of cards, with one level stacked on top of another.

|File:Cardstadium.jpg

|alt3=Demonstration of card architecture

|Amateur card stadium, similar in design to Bryan Berg's structures

|File:HouseOfCardsBridge.jpg

|alt4=A demonstration of bridging gaps

|A house of cards with a bridge over the gap between its two pillars

}}

File: Card Tower, 1st world record, Strand Magazine, September 1901.jpg in September 1901.]]

The earliest known record for card stacking was achieved by Victoria Maitland, of the United Kingdom. A photograph of her work was published in The Strand Magazine in September 1901. It was a fifteen-story structure.The Strand Magazine, September 1901, page 357. Following the publication of this record, a second was submitted in April 1902 by Rosie Farner of England with a picture of a twenty-storied tower.The Strand Magazine, April 1902, page 479. A third record was submitted by F. M. Hollams of England, with a tower of twenty-five stories, in February 1903.The Strand Magazine, February 1903, page 235.

Other record holders (without bending or altering the cards) include:

• Joe Whitlam, of England, with twenty-seven stories, on February 28, 1972Guinness Book of World Records American 14th (Giant 1976) Edition, page 470. "highest claim authenticated", up to 1976.
• James Warnock, of Canada, with sixty-one stories, on September 8, 1978"Guinness Book of World Records" American 1982 Edition, page 477.
• John Slain, of the United States, with sixty-eight stories, on August 3, 1983"Guinness Book of World Records" American 1987 Edition, page 450.
• Bryan Berg, of the United States, with seventy-five stories, on April 21, 1992"Guinness Book of World Records" American 1994 Edition, page 250.

Berg has since kept the record and created many sub-records.{{cite news |last1=Allen |first1=Lorraine |title=Cardstacking pro explains how he turns simple playing cards into masterpieces |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/cardstacking-pro-explains-how-he-turns-simple-playing-cards-into-masterpieces/2020/06/01/6b354644-9eb8-11ea-b5c9-570a91917d8d_story.html |work=The Washington Post |date=June 2, 2020}} He currently holds the world record for tallest house of cards, a {{convert|25|ft|9+7/16|in|adj=on}} "skyscraper" completed at the State Fair of Texas on October 14, 2007.{{cite news|access-date=2007-11-14|publisher=Dallas Morning News|title=Card stacker hopes State Fair tower breaks his record|date=October 16, 2007|author=Andrew Menzer|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/statefair/stories/101607dnmetcardstacker.3414ef3.html}} He also holds the record for the largest house of cards, a category Guinness invented for the event, for a replica of Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World.{{cite web|publisher=Bryan Berg|title=About Berg|access-date=2007-11-14|url=http://www.cardstacker.com/about.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110190128/http://www.cardstacker.com/about.html|archive-date=2007-11-10|url-status=dead}}

On March 10, 2010, Berg broke his own record by building a replica of The Venetian Macao resort hotel. He completed it in 44 days, using 218,792 cards (more than 4,000 decks). The structure measured {{convert|10.5|by|3|m}}, and weighed more than {{convert|272|kg}}.

• Architecture
• Arts and crafts
• Hobby
• Sport stacking
• Structure

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Houses of cards}}

{{Playing cards}}

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Category:Playing cards