Artist creates famous landmarks from around the world out of six million toothpicks

By Daily Mail Reporter
14th September 2009

His face is the picture of concentration as he painstakingly finishes off Cambodian temple Angkor Wat.

And concentration is something Stan Munro certainly doesn't lack after spending six years building famous landmarks from around the world - using six million toothpicks.

The former television presenter used more than 170 litres of glue as he worked full time on buildings such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge and The Vatican.

Stan Munro working on Cambodian temple Angkor Wat which he described as the most challenging to do

He has also recreated Sydney's Opera House, the Taj Mahal and Cutty Sark in 1:164 scale.

The married 38-year-old can take anything from one day to six months to make each building.

The majority of his time goes into research.

He downloads as many technical drawings and satellite images as possible from the internet and scales the rest himself.

Stan's buildings are largely hollow, with just a few structural supports - also made from the toothpicks he buys direct from a wholesaler.

The larger models are made in separate pieces so they can be moved with less hassle.

Stan continues to work on his models at the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, New York, United States.

Standing proud: Stan with his models of the Chrysler Building in New York (left), the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur (behind him), Taiwan's Taipei 101 Tower, and in front, The Woolworth Building and the Met Life Tower both from New York

His latest exhibition, called Toothpick City II - Temples and Towers, features more than 40 famous religious and tall buildings from around the world.

He has been working on it for four years and it is due to be completed in December.

He has built structures out of toothpicks since his school days when he was asked to build a 6-inch tall structure that could hold an egg.

His was so strong it could hold his desk.

He combined his childhood passion of toothpicks with his more adult interest in architecture in 2003, following three months of unemployment.

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Skillful: The cutty sark made from toothpicks

His first Toothpick City, called History of Skyscrapers, was sold to a museum in Mallorca, Spain. It took two years to build and has 50 buildings.

Stan said: 'Toothpick City was so much fun to build, I decided to build another one. This one is bigger and much more detailed.

'I want this exhibit to be a celebration of religious diversity, architectural achievement and historical accuracy - or just 'wow, that's a lot of toothpicks'.

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Painstaking: Stan's version of the Taj Mahal

'No one has built all these buildings to the same scale and put them side by side before - let alone out of toothpicks.

'I really wanted to see what it would look like.

'If you can't travel the world, I want people to see this exhibit and think they just did.

'I'd much rather be known as an architectural historian than an artist.'