Venetian Macao House of Cards World Record Attempt

Day 44

2010-03-11T02:18:00.000-08:00

Since I last wrote, I stayed up all night and managed to place the last few cards only moments before the press conference. I'm very happy to report that Guinness was on hand to verify that a new record for the Largest House of Freestanding Playing Cards has been set! Approximately 218,000 cards in all.

Now I sleep.

BB

Day 43

2010-03-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

Another day of massive progress on the PLAZA!! AT last, the last major building. Tonight it will be a little sleep and a massive day of stacking tomorrow. Guinness arrives tomorrow afternoon.

BB

Day 42

2010-03-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

Some days I can just crank it out and today was one of those days. Somehow I managed to build the entire perimeter of the Four Seasons tower today. Tomorrow I'm putting a roof on it.

BB

Day 41

2010-03-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

Ok.....after today I'm taking a rest from the village....it's starting to hurt my head to even think about that portion. I have no idea how this part has taken so long. The arches look good.

BB

Day 40

2010-03-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

You guessed it....village.....

Day 39

2010-03-08T08:32:00.000-08:00

Still working on the "village" .....ouch.

Day 38

2010-03-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

Good progress today on the perimeter of the Venetian complex (I called it the Village earlier). I'm thinking I can have this portion almost done tomorrow.... lets hope.

It's looking good.

BB

Day 37

2010-03-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a little slow for me. I finished the day feeling like I need to find a quicker way to complete this portion of the project. I don't like the pressure of feeling like I'm getting behind. The Sands went up very quickly and bought me some time, I feel like I just lost that time today. Ouch.

Day 36

2010-03-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

The race to build the village of Venice continues. It's too soon to tell what I'm in for on this part of the project.

Day 35

2010-03-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

The Sands took a bit more time to complete than I had anticipated, but it still went up quickly....thank goodness. Later in the day I began the process of starting the lower portions of the Venetian complex. I'm trying to capture the essence of the many many little buildings that make up the perimeter of the Venetian, without committing too much time.

Day 34

2010-03-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

Today was a victory....almost. Ladders and planks are gone without incident and the Sands is at about 90 percent completion. A little more work on the tower and the facades and it's done. On to the next big push..... to be decided.

BB

day 33

2010-02-28T09:37:00.001-08:00

Well..... the Venetian tower is DONE! I do have about an hour of finishing touches to add, but then the ladders and planks can be removed (not looking forward to that process). So tomorrow it will be an hour of finishing touches on the Venetian tower and then full speed ahead on the Sands.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a day off for me, but, to make sure that I'm done when Guinness arrives, I'm going to keep going. I'd rather be done early if that's how it works out. Time will tell.

By the way..... the gold card (with a tiger on it) is now in place.

BB

Day 32

2010-02-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

The end of the Venetian is in sight. I started to build all the little columns on the top of the building and one of the big cornices. I think I made pretty good progress today. This morning I was moving very slow for some reason (I got plenty of sleep). It was not until I had my coffee that I was in the zone.

With a little luck I'll actually complete the Venetian tower tomorrow at some point. I have to build the Sands and the Plaza yet, along with the lower portions of the Venetian complex. I'll be busy in the coming week but I think I can get it done. Sleep, eat, build, eat, sleep, eat, build, eat, sleep ..... get the plan?

BB

Day 31

2010-02-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

It was a real nail biter .... but the planks were moved higher by quite a bit. I did not enjoy it at all. As far as progress, it was an OK day. I feel like the Venetian will NEVER end.

I'll survive.

BB

Day 30

2010-02-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

The best day yet for progress during the entire project! Four levels completed on the massive Venetian tower. Tomorrow will be as good I hope and probably will require that the planks be raised higher (I'm dreading that process).

BB

Day 29

2010-02-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

Day's like this are magic. I can't believe how much I got done. Perhaps my best day yet on this project. Venetian is on the 21st level..... a bit more than ten levels to go (which seems like nothing at this point). To bed!

BB

Day 28

2010-02-24T08:41:00.001-08:00

Got the planks into position. Was a real nail-biter. My assistant, Wilson, who speaks very little English (which is WAY more than my abilities with Chinese), somehow always knows what I'm trying to get him to do. While positioning planks, he's often just inches from something that took more than a week to build and it all makes me a little uneasy. Got a lot done, but a long way to go.

BB

Day 27

2010-02-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

I worked for a short while today, and will now have to set up all my ladders and planks tomorrow. It's not going to be fun. I have to find a way to set them up in a very tight space, and do it all with out hitting the cards. The good thing is that when it's all set up I can breath easy because I'm then back to ideal working height.

Usually when I do an event, people don't know who I am when I'm away from the cards. Or, people might THINK it's me but are not certain so they just don't say anything. Here at the Venetian, I'm pretty much the only tall blond guy running around. It's creates some very funny situations, like getting an extreme close-up photo taken while in the elevator.

Meanwhile the cards....

I'm thinking about reducing the complexity of some of the structure on the Venetian. I'm high enough now that I should be able to get by with less (like the last building). Reductions = speed. Speed is good!

BB

Day 26

2010-02-22T03:18:00.000-08:00

Much of today involved standing on my toes trying to see exactly hat I'm doing way up there on the Venetian. Tomorrow is supposed to be a "day off" but I may work a bit just to keep things moving. I think maybe the crowds here in the casino are beginning to dwindle a bit because there is actually room to walk around again.

BB

Day 25

2010-02-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

Progress on the massive Venetian is evident as I'm starting to have trouble to reach everything. Soon it will be time for a complicated array of planks and ladders. Positioning all that stuff is not my favorite thing to do. It makes me very nervous. On false move and down it comes.

BB

Day 24

2010-02-20T20:33:00.001-08:00

Venetian..... Venetian..... Venetian......

Day 22

2010-02-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

Another day, and two more humidifiers. I don't think catastrophe is waiting, but it is a little spooky to see cards keep raining down off the tall buildings as they continue to dry out. The Venetian is coming along nicely.

BB

Day 21

2010-02-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

The day went fast and I got a lot done (even though it did not really look like it). Tons and tons and tons of people. I can hardly walk through the place. The only bad thing was that it's getting drier and drier in the Venetian (air conditioner is working hard to keep it cool with all the people) and it's causing my cards to curl a bit. The solution was a humidifier and dumping a little water on the floor.

Day 20

2010-02-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

With the Venetian figured out (I think), I was able to start making some good progress. It's a little hard to make huge progress because I'm not yet up to my most comfortable working height. To give you an idea of how big the Venetian will be, it would be possible for several people to stand INSIDE it! They would have to stand very still of course, and getting in or out would be a bit of a problem. As a point of comparison, the real Venetian hotel tower has 3000 suites, and the entire Venetian complex is one of the largest buildings in the entire world. I've now been here for several weeks and have only seen part of it. Walking from my room to where I'm working is about a 10 minute walk (my commute)! Having had a chance to walk around a bit, I must say my favorite parts of the Venetian are the grand stairway in the center of the casino (I think it's all real marble), and the great hall leading from check in to the casino area (more real marble and lots of it), and very nicely done. I'm thinking about asking if I can get an insiders tour of St Marks Campanile and maybe get to go to the top of it..... I'll give a full report if I do.

Day 19

2010-02-16T18:45:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to report that I actually ventured outside the Venetian today during my day off. I made my way to/across Macau peninsula. I saw incense sticks (logs) that were bigger than most people and deafening fireworks at the A-Ma temple. The ruins of the Church of St Paul and the Monte Fort were among my adventures for the day.

Day 18

2010-02-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

It does not look like much, but, after an entire day of work the bottom of the Venetian tower is complete. It takes a lot of time to get it exactly right. The next several days will be a lot of work.

BB

Day 17

2010-02-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

Today I completed the tower. In hind sight, it was a rather complicated building because every time the tower got a little smaller, a new floor plan had to be designed and implemented, which translates to figuring things out all over again. That tower is MASSIVE. I'm guessing close to 900 decks. That's about 120 POUNDS! Not exactly the kind of building that falls from a sneeze.

I think my game plan at this point is to begin the Venetian, just to get a sense of that project, and then take a break from tower building and maybe build the plaza or some other quick components. The Venetian, by contrast, is just one simple floor plan built over and over and over... so a simpler undertaking (I think).

BB

Day 16

2010-02-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

After a very productive day of building I'm happy to report that I think I'll finish this tower tomorrow. The tower has gotten so tall that I'll need to move my planks a bit higher. It's still going to be a ton of work for today.

Day 15

2010-02-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Today I set up my ladders and planks, a real sign of progress. I built one last level just like the ones I've been building all along, and then built one level with the cards horizontal, as a structural and visual transition for the next 4 or 5 levels (I also built the first one of those) that are slightly different. The horizontally built level essentially allows me to set walls and columns directly on top of large open spaces directly below, and basically build a new floor plan. Yesterday I was talking about reducing the size of supports as I build higher, and those reductions always seem like a good idea at the time, but as I continue to get taller I worry a bit that I might have weakened the structure too quickly by doing so. I don't have much farther to go, so I'm guessing that if all seems well so far, it's built to last. The tower is so large that I can use 100 decks of cards and hardly tell I did anything.

Day 14

2010-02-10T08:41:00.001-08:00

The Plaza Four Seasons tower seemed to go a little faster today. Perhaps it was because I had to start standing on a block to reach my work, a good indication of progress. I also think things went a little faster today because some of the very complicated internal walls and supports for the tower can now be built a bit simpler and thus faster. These supports, like those in a real high rise, have less and less to support as they grow closer to the top of the structure. I never know exactly when it's safe to reduce the size of a support, all I can do is guess, and keep my fingers crossed.

BB

Day 13

2010-02-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

At this point, building The Plaza Four Seasons Hotel tower project feels like it will never end. I've been at it forever, and still have forever to go. On a positive note, it's going to be really big, and really nice. I know I'm making progress because this building is now bigger than I am.

BB

Day 12

2010-02-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

This is really turning into a huge building. For some reason my neck hurts a bit tonight. Oh well, the good news is that I made some major progress today on the Four Seasons. I ‘ll be able to build one more level and then I’ll need to set up my ladders and planks. I might take a break from The Plaza's Four Seasons soon and get a good start on The Venetian or Sands Macao for a change of pace.

Day 11

2010-02-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

Where did the day go? I love days like this. It seemed like I just got started and it was time to be done for the night. Good progress.

Day 10

2010-02-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

Four more stories on The Plaza's Four Seasons completed today. I’m near that backbreaking height that keeps me hunched over for hours and hours. The height will get better today and I’ll get more comfortable and perhaps faster because of it.

Day 9

2010-02-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

I started my day with the tower for The Plaza's Four Seasons only two stories tall. My goal was to get another four stories completed. It was a lofty goal and I came very close to making it. I managed to get three and one half stories completed. I would have gotten further but I had a small but unfortunate collapse of one of my columns inside the tower, and fixing it was not easy. It seems like once things start falling apart it’s hard to get everything under control again. When I start having bad luck, I sometimes just head to Starbucks for a coffee. It was a very good day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. My goal is four and a half stories.

Each story of the Four Seasons tower seems to take about 33 decks of cards, so just unwrapping all those decks is a big project. Also, I’m thinking now that this tower will be nearly 900 decks to complete.

Day 8

2010-02-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

My first day off. Spent the day eating and relaxing. The Venetian is massive, and I’m still learning my way around. Had a very good lunch at Windows restaurant in the Four Seasons, which is the building I'm still working on in the card project. Does that count as research?

Day 7

2010-02-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

With the Rialto Bridge and The Venetian St. Mark's Campanile complete, I’ll now begin the tower for The Plaza's Four Seasons Hotel. This will be a massive undertaking. I’m estimating the tower portion of the Four Seasons will take nearly 800 decks of cards. The tower is a rather simple rectangle in plan, but it will be the chamfered corners and many balconies that pose the challenge. On a tower like this, it’s worth spending some time to really design the structure so that it not only looks correct, but also doesn’t take a lifetime to build. The tower will be approximately 30 stories tall. Each story will be a huge project and it’s time well spent to make each story as simple as possible. I’ll probably spend half my day just figuring out the layout.

Day 6

2010-02-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Success! The newly rebuilt Rialto Bridge is complete and holding strong. The mid-section is sagging a bit but that is to be expected. The only catch is that it has to somehow last for another month on display...

Day 5

2010-01-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

Collapse! I took too big a risk with my first try at the Rialto Bridge and the center portion collapsed (in front of a large crowd who were much more amused than I was). I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the disaster and rebuilding. The wreckage was so bad I almost decided to start over completely. The passage under my Rialto Bridge will have to be smaller in proportion than what it really should be, but I’m thinking any large span accomplished with no tape or glue- as is everything in this project- will be impressive.

Day 4

2010-01-30T21:30:00.000-08:00

Today I will start the very difficult Rialto Bridge. A bridge of any shape or size is not an easy feat with freestanding playing cards. I’m not sure how I’ll pull this off.

Day 3

2010-01-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

The Venetian (St Mark’s) Campanile clock tower is nearly complete. This is a large house of cards, but it will be dwarfed by the buildings yet to come. I’m plesed to report that it’s a very stable building. It will need to be stable to stand for the many coming weeks it will take to me complete this project. Almost 8 more weeks until the knockdown event.

The historic St Marks’s Campanile of Venice was begun in the 9th century, but suddenly collapsed in 1902. It was rebuilt soon thereafter and remains one of the icons of Venice. Hopefully, the one I’ve built won’t surprise me with an unexpected collapse.

Day 2

2010-01-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided to start this massive project with the Venetian Campanile (a replica of the actual St Mark’s Campanile of Venice). It’s probably the most iconic structure within the composition I’ll be building and a great way to start. It will give everyone a sense of the scale of things to come.

Day 1

2010-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of a project it’s always hard for me to grasp how much work I have to do, and exactly at what pace I will have to work to get it all done on time. Today I will host a workshop where several teenagers will learn that cardstacking is really not that hard.

Welcome to the Venetian Macao House of Cards Guinness World Record Attempt Blog

2010-01-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Please post your comments and photos of the exhibit, and come back to check Berg's progress toward a new world record from now until March 20, 2010!

Berg knocks down the Venetian Campanile at a press conference January 13, 2010, to prove that no tape or glue are used in his constructions.