House of Cards. A house of cards is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other pyramidally.
House of cards is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structure or argument built on a shaky foundation or one that will collapse if a necessary element is removed. Structures built by layering in this way, such as Stonehenge, are referred to as house of cards architecture, which dates back to the Cyclopean and Megalithic ages.
The origin of the phrase is debated to be from the 18th century England but some believe that it has an American base. The structures created using this method rely on nothing more than balance and friction in order to stay upright.
Ideally, adhesives or other external connecting methods are not used, and no damage or alterations are made to the cards themselves. The larger the structure, the higher the number of balanced cards that could fail and compromise the integrity of the card building.
Professional card stacker Bryan Berg claims, however, that the more cards placed on a tower the stronger it becomes because the weight of the cards pushing down on the base allows occasional cards to stumble without the entire structure collapsing. He also claims that proper stacking technique allows cards to function as shear walls, giving considerable stability to the structure. Different types of card stacking. From left to right: Balance and supp
House of cards is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structure or argument built on a shaky foundation or one that will collapse if a necessary element is removed. Structures built by layering in this way, such as Stonehenge, are referred to as house of cards architecture, which dates back to the Cyclopean and Megalithic ages.
The origin of the phrase is debated to be from the 18th century England but some believe that it has an American base. The structures created using this method rely on nothing more than balance and friction in order to stay upright.
Ideally, adhesives or other external connecting methods are not used, and no damage or alterations are made to the cards themselves. The larger the structure, the higher the number of balanced cards that could fail and compromise the integrity of the card building.
Professional card stacker Bryan Berg claims, however, that the more cards placed on a tower the stronger it becomes because the weight of the cards pushing down on the base allows occasional cards to stumble without the entire structure collapsing. He also claims that proper stacking technique allows cards to function as shear walls, giving considerable stability to the structure. Different types of card stacking. From left to right: Balance and supp
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