French model enthusiast Richard Plaud’s 7.19m (23ft) model of the Eiffel Tower has been officially recognized as the world’s tallest matchstick building, after initially being disqualified by Guinness World Records (GWR) due to the wrong type of matches being used. GWR has now acknowledged their initial mistake and congratulated Mr. Plaud on his record-breaking achievement.
Plaud, 47, spent a total of 4,200 hours over eight years constructing the model, using 706,900 matches and 23kg of glue. Initially starting with commercial matches, he later obtained plain wooden matches from the manufacturer to continue his project. Following completion and subsequent rejection by GWR, the organization has now reversed its decision, with Mark Mckinley stating that they were “really excited to be able to approve it” and admitting they had been “a little bit too harsh” in their initial assessment.
Plaud, from Montpellier-de-Médillan in western France, hopes to put his tower on display in Paris for the Olympics in July. His model surpasses the previous record held by Toufic Daher from Lebanon, who built a 6.53m (21ft) Eiffel Tower in 2009.
This rollercoaster of emotions for Mr. Plaud has now ended on a high note, with his remarkable dedication and achievement now officially acknowledged by Guinness World Records.
Source
Photo credit www.bbc.co.uk
