“It cannot be registered in the Guinness Book of World Records because it was made from a custom-made match rather than a commercially available match.”
Le Figaro and others reported on the 6th (local time) that French model maker Richard Flo (47) completed a 7.19m model of the Eiffel Tower using 706,900 matches, but was recently rejected for registration by Britain’s Guinness Book of World Records.
The Guinness Book of World Records took issue with the fact that Mr. Flo only purchased match bodies without sulfur heads from a domestic match manufacturer in order to shorten the production time. Past records were made using commercially available matches, but since Mr. Flo did not use commercially available matches, it was believed that there could be a problem with fairness.
Mr. Flo invested about 4,200 hours over the past eight years to create the Eiffel Tower. The weight of the matches used alone amounted to 15 kg. It was first unveiled last month in Sharyant Maritim, the southwestern region where he lives, and about 4,000 people have viewed the work so far.
Before Flo, the person who built the tallest match, the Eiffel Tower, was Lebanese Toufik Daher. Mr. Daher unveiled the 6.53-meter-tall Eiffel Tower in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, in 2009. In particular, he received greater attention because he, who was paralyzed from the waist down, completed this work while in a wheelchair.
At the time, Mr. Daher used about 6 million matches. The cost was $11,000 (about 14.85 million won) and the production time was 2,316 hours.
Regarding Guinness World Records’ rejection, Mr. Flo said, “I don’t understand. He expressed his dissatisfaction, saying, “It’s extremely disappointing.” He complained that the Guinness Book of World Records does not recognize his work, as well as the creator’s intention within it. Initially, we considered raising an objection, but the Guinness Book of World Records is not obligated to respond, so it is unlikely that the result will change.
Mr. Flo expressed his intention to vent his frustration by producing a new work. He told local media Le Parisien, “I hate being stuck in failure,” and expressed his intention to set a world record worthy of being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records through other works. Although he did not reveal his exact plans, Le Parisien reported that there is a possibility of creating new works through 3D printing.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.