PARIS, FRANCE – A model of the Eiffel Tower has been declared the world’s tallest matchstick building, just a day after initially being disqualified by Guinness World Records (GWR). The 23-foot tower, created by model enthusiast Richard Plaud, was disqualified on Wednesday for being made from the wrong type of matches. However, GWR later acknowledged that their decision was too harsh and officially recognized Plaud’s achievement.
Plaud, 47, expressed his emotional rollercoaster of a week, having spent eight years building the model using 706,900 matches and 23 kilograms of glue. The process began with Plaud removing the red, sulfur tops from commercial matches, but after realizing the tedious nature of this method, he contacted the manufacturer and requested plain wooden matches instead. The completed tower, finished on 27 December, prompted Plaud to seek authentication from GWR, which initially rejected his attempt due to the type of matches used. However, the organization reversed its decision, admitting that they had been too strict, and commended Plaud for his officially amazing achievement.
Mark Mckinley from Guinness World Records expressed excitement in approving Plaud’s model, admitting that they had been too harsh on the type of matches required. Following the official recognition, Plaud hopes to display his tower in Paris for the Olympics in July. This feat surpasses the previous world record held by Toufic Daher from Lebanon, who built a 21-foot Eiffel Tower in 2009.