TIAN RUI · GRAVITY CONSTRUCTS
A professional card stacker building house-of-cards structures and playing-card sculptures — no glue, no tape, no hidden supports — live, in public, in front of thousands.
About
Tian Rui, based in Qingdao, China, is the world's leading card stacking artist in Asia — a full-time card stacker whose freestanding playing-card structures and block sculptures have been built live on stage, in malls and on television. His constructions — up to 5 metres and spanning 3 metres — stand on nothing but friction and gravity, built over days in full public view, collapsing and rising again.
He began stacking cards in 2015 as rehabilitation after an injury ended a decade-long magic career. Eleven years later the practice has produced seven Guinness World Records, a feature in The Guardian, commissions for national television, luxury malls and automotive brands — and a live act that turns structural engineering into public theatre.
Guinness World Records — all verified
| 2025 | Tallest house of cards — 2.91 m, 34 levels (Qingdao) |
| 2025 | Tallest house of cards in 8 hours — 62 levels |
| 2025 | Tallest house of cards in 1 hour — 32 levels |
| 2025 | Most Jenga blocks stacked on one vertical block — 3,149 |
| 2025 | Most Jenga Giant blocks stacked on one block — 918 |
| 2022 | Tallest house of cards in 12 hours — 3.37 m / 50 levels |
| 2022 | Tallest house of cards in 1 hour — 2.17 m |
Press
Card stacking for events — formats
Book a Guinness card stacker for: corporate events and brand activation (a record build tells a product story the way LG and CCTV-1 have told theirs) · shopping mall entertainment (multi-day durational builds that bring repeat foot traffic) · science festivals and museums (structural engineering made visible: friction, load paths, centre of gravity) · television and film · street theatre and festivals · weddings and private commissions (a house of cards replica of your venue, built in situ). Every structure is freestanding — playing cards and wooden blocks held by friction and gravity only.
Selected commissions & live work
Replica architecture in cards: Forbidden City Hall of Supreme Harmony · Temple of Heaven · Big Ben (10,000 cards / 18 h) · Parthenon (12,000 cards) · Hagia Sophia · Eiffel Tower · 12,000-card Frozen castle (40 h).
Brand & TV work: CCTV-1 "Impossible Challenge" × Haier · Avatr Technology · Midea × Zhihu Lab · Hisense Plaza Olympic art exhibition · integrated-resort and retail clients in Macau and mainland China (2024–2026).
Videos
Live build footage and stage structures: tianrui-portfolio.app.workbuddy.host/video.html · Full portfolio (30 seconds): tianrui-portfolio.app.workbuddy.host
Technical rider — simple by design
Booking & programming
Festivals · science centres & museums · shopping malls · resort & casino entertainment · brand events · television
+86 132 1245 2222 (phone / WeChat) · 1604390135@qq.com · Qingdao, China — available worldwide
Email Tian Rui