Iowa State’s Department of Architecture is known throughout the nation for its academics, but what the nation may not know is the department is also the home of a world-record builder.

Bryan Berg, lecturer of architecture, has been building card houses since he was 8 years old.

“My grandfather was the first person I saw building a card house,” Berg said. “Although he didn’t do it competitively, I would say he impassioned me with it.”

Berg spent much of his childhood building the various structures he created in his mind.

“I would build right in front of the television,” he said. “My dad always complains about having spent his life watching TV leaning to one side, but he never told me to stop.

“Eventually we did have to create zoning ordinances, where and how tall buildings could be,” Berg said.

His love of card building continued throughout his life, and the commissions he received helped pay for much of his education.

“Card stacking is the real job,” he said. “Teaching is the hobby.”

Berg, 28, first appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records as a senior in high school with a 14-foot, 6-inch tower.

Since then, he has extended the record several times.

Next year, Berg plans to travel to New York to top his most recent record – 25 feet in 1999.

“I expect the new record to be about 30 feet, which will take more than 3,000 decks of cards,” he said.

The 1999 tower was a two-and-a-half-week project, weighing about 250 pounds.

Berg’s secret isn’t the type of cards he uses, although he jokes about it. “Yeah, sometimes I say they’re on special at Hy-Vee.”

So what is the secret?

Well, it isn’t glue.

Berg said his success can be attributed to his “honeycomb pattern” – an array of cells that would look like a waffle from above.

He has been a guest on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “This Morning,” “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” and “Guinness Prime Time.”

Berg’s works have been displayed in museums and galleries. His exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul used cards to portray architecture and structure.

He has also been asked to show his talent at fairs. These buildings range between 6 and 14 feet.

Sometimes, Berg is allowed free rein on the decision of structures to build, but other times his clients make special requests. These monuments include the Liberty Bell, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House.

When it’s time to clean up, Berg doesn’t worry about collecting his cards.

“The last day I take a leaf blower and hose everything down,” he said. “Then I let the kids take the cards they want before I pick up the area.”

Berg is working on other ways to encourage youth to pursue their interest in design. With the help of the structural engineering and education departments, he is writing grants to expand his Design Careers Recruitment Road Show.

Berg’s next project will be building a card structure to be tested in the structural engineering lab this fall. The cards will be subjected to tests usually performed on steal beams and concrete blocks.

“I expect the cards to hold a couple tons,” Berg said.

Students who are interested will be able to observe these tests.

For the immovable skeptics, Berg is coming out with a book next summer called “Stacking the Deck.”

“It will be a how-to book that explains the structure of cards in a graphic way that will allow people to hopefully build things,” he said.

“The majority of people have what it takes. It might be a few hours of horrible frustration, but when they figure out the waffle shape, it’s cake.”