Towering ambition: Egyptian student builds epic monuments out of cards

Record ID: 898918

  • Title: Towering ambition: Egyptian student builds epic monuments out of cards
  • Date: 11th July 2017
  • Summary: KAFR EL SHEIKH, EGYPT (JULY 4, 2017) (REUTERS) CARD BUILDER, AHMED HASSAN REFAIE, BUILDING HOUSE OF CARDS REFAIE BUILDING MODEL REFAIE PLACING CARDS ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER REFAIE KNEELING ON LIVING ROOM FLOOR BUILDING ANOTHER MODEL / BUILDING MADE OF CARDS IN BACKGROUND REFAIE BUILDING CARDS BEING PLACED, FORMING BASE OF NEW MODEL REFAIE PLACING CARDS MODEL SEEN FROM ABOVE REFAIE SEEN BUILDING IN BETWEEN GAPS OF MODEL REFAIE PLACING CARDS REFAIE PUTTING CARDS IN PLACE ON MODEL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CARD BUILDER, AHMED HASSAN REFAIE, SAYING: "I love this, to be honest. I like the idea a lot. I like architectural shapes. I like cards. I like art. So, I tried to find a link between them and this is the link." REFAIE BUILDING REFAIE WITH CARDS IN MOUTH PLACING THEM ON TOP OF MODEL REFAIE BUILDING CARDS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CARD BUILDER, AHMED HASSAN REFAIE, SAYING: "The biggest model I made was the 'Church of Losanda', this was made for the child who died in the bombing. It took me 100 hours, because of the details. The small things that were in it were very hard to get right. So, it took me a very long time to do the details. That was considered the biggest that I had made and I used all my cards to make it as well. It was 100 hours exactly. Of course it can take anything from five hours to days." REFAIE PLACING CARDS ON MODEL REFAIE BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CARD BUILDER, AHMED HASSAN REFAIE SAYING: "What I am doing here has nothing to do with that (studies). I've been doing this for 10 years and I love it. It wouldn't matter if I did law or engineering or any other subject, I would have continued this." REFAIE BUILDING REFAIE MAKING A MISTAKE WHILE BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AHMED HASSAN REFAIE, SAYING: "I would like to get a Guinness Record. Some people say Guinness is my goal but to me it isn't. To me a Guinness is a step which would enable me to put on a big exhibition. Hopefully, in my 10-year plan, I'd like to build a museum made of cards. I got the idea from a museum in China that is made of cardboard. This museum brought a lot of revenue to China and it was later done in Turkey. If I were to make this museum in Egypt, it would be the first museum made of cards in the whole world, not just in Egypt." REFAIE BUILDING MODEL BUILDING MADE OF CARDS REFAIE SEEN BUILDING BEHIND CARD MODEL REFAIE BUILDING REFAIE BUILDING MODEL REFAIE PUTTING CARDS IN PLACE ON MODEL VARIOUS OF REFAIE BUILDING REFAIE COLLAPSING BUILDING MODEL MADE OF CARDS
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2017 14:32
  • Keywords: house of cards card building Egypt
  • Location: KAFR EL SHEIKH, EGYPT
  • City: KAFR EL SHEIKH, EGYPT
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016P9X6JD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hours to build, seconds to destroy, Ahmed Hassan Refaie is fixated on making buildings out of playing cards.
    He dreams of opening a museum to put his intricate, fragile constructions on display.
    The Egyptian law student does not just makes card houses, he makes palaces and churches, some of which take days to construct.
    "I like architectural shapes. I like cards. I like art. So, I tried to find a link between them and this is the link," he said.
    Twenty-year-old Refaie has been pursuing his hobby for 10 years and hopes to win a Guinness World Record - something that would bring him one step closer to opening a museum, which he hopes to build out of cards.
    "Hopefully, in my 10-year plan, I'd like to build a museum made of cards. I got the idea from a museum in China that is made of cardboard," he said.
    "If I were to make this museum in Egypt, it would be the first museum made of cards in the whole world, not just in Egypt," Refaie added.
    Refaie has reproduced monuments from Capitol Hill in Washington to the renaissance churches of Europe.
    His largest creation is the "Church of Losanda" - named after a child killed in the recent bombings that targeted Christians in Egypt, which took 100 hours to build.
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