Art model with bamboo toothpicks

On July 30, a completely bamboo model of the US Capitol building was displayed at the Montgomery Community College Arts and Cultural Center, Montgomery County, Maryland.

Then, this miniature Capitol architecture was transferred to the Ripley Museum in Orlando, Florida.

This is a work of art made of bamboo, more precisely of toothpicks, designed by a Vietnamese. It is a master of architect Hoang Tuan Long from Vietnam, which is licensed by Ripley's Intertainment Inc. acquired to bring into the exhibition room the creative works of bamboo that the institute had before.

From the Capitol…

In the United States, Ripley, also known as Ripley's Believe It Or Not, is known as a great company specializing in the introduction and display of novel art products that entertain, educate, cartoons, books, and newspapers. In addition to its headquarters in Florida and branches in other states, Ripley also has 32 exhibition centers in 10 countries around the world.

The story began in April 2016, when architect Hoang Tuan Long came to the United States from Vietnam, bringing with him a model of the Capitol, which at that time had only completed the dome. Tran Kieu Nga, a resident of Maryland, and a member of US Asia Links, a Vietnamese-American trade organization, recounted:

I have a friend named Linh, at the end of March, Mr. Linh brought architect Hoang Tuan Long to my house to introduce the model of the US Capitol. When I saw the beautiful and brilliant bamboo model that Mr. Long did not know, just researched the information on the internet and made it, I was so impressed that I introduced it to Congressman Van. Hollen.

Impressed by this unique work of art, congressman Van Hollen's chief of staff, Karen Robb, took a photo and posted it on Van Hollen's tweet.

Soon after, the Washington Post re-uploaded the Capitol dome from Congressman Van Hollen's website and posted it on the newspaper's The Daily 202 PowerPost page:

The Ripley Museum read about it in the Washington Post and contacted them to buy the model. It was around April when everything was done and agreed on the price, Hoang Tuan Long did more left and right wings as well as the layout of the surrounding bonsai.

By the beginning of August, this week, we have to hand over the model to the Ripley museum, but because the model is so elaborate and so beautiful, we thought we should introduce it to the Vietnamese community here as well as other people. American friend. Only then did US Asia Links contact Montgomery College, borrow the School's Arts and Culture Center to make the premiere for the model of the Capitol as well as introduce a talented architect, architect Hoang Tuan Long.

As soon as I saw this amazing work in the Arts and Culture Department of Montgomery Community College not far from Washington D.C. I was so excited that our students from 160 different countries would be able to enjoy the opportunity. admire this work.

That is the feeling of Ms. Kim McGettigan, administrative director of Montgomery Community College:

Model of the Taj Mahal. Photo courtesy of songngumedia.com Model of the Tajmahal temple. Photo courtesy of songngumedia.com

The model is not only beautiful but also a prime example of passion, patience, and perseverance. To me, this artist persevered to completion and we are proud to present this masterpiece to everyone on our campus.

Mr. Edward Meyer, deputy director in charge of exhibitions and archives from the Ripley Museum in Orlando, Florida, said the reason Ripley decided to buy the Capitol model of architect Hoang Tuan Long is that the work is not only beautiful but also fulfills Ripley's desire to find new things that can be called utopia:

Up to now this is the bamboo work that has made the strongest impression, in short, it is a masterpiece that is also difficult to imagine for a long time.

Ripley owns many works designed with matchsticks and bamboo toothpicks by artisans around the world but has never had a bamboo or bamboo work from Vietnam. The appeal of the work is the human labor, and the dedication to making this miniature version of the Capitol over several months, so it is not surprising that the model is considered difficult to imagine. This makes it perfect for a gallery we proudly call Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

The model of the US Capitol building is not the first work of architect Hoang Tuan Long. In 2012, Master of Architecture Hoang Tuan Long graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at Belarusian National Polytechnic University and invented an art form he called BOARC whose traditional material is toothpicks. Architect Hoang Tuan Long said:

Giang is a plant that also belongs to the bamboo family but is more suitable for making toothpicks than bamboo because it is flexible. Called BOARC because BO is bamboo, ARC means acrylic, I call it mica in Vietnam, and it is pronounced the same way as the word ART is art.

… to One Pillar Pagoda

The works of art designed by architect Hoang Tuan Long and displayed in Vietnam are the One Pillar Pagoda model, Hanoi's historical landscape, the famous Taj Mahal of India, the BOARC Temple, and the famous Taj Mahal in India. Smaller designs such as lotus, crosses, snowflakes... All these meticulous, elegant, and elaborate handmade products are made with toothpicks, glue, and mica under the skillful hands of children. People:

The Taj Mahal was the first structure that I made with toothpicks. I find images on the internet on google, synthesize all that plus the parameters on Wikipedia, how is it sized, what it is like, from there I draw and make the Taj Mahal project.

One Pillar Pagoda already has the experience of the Taj Mahal, and the materials are in the country, so it's easier for me to find them. Compared to the number of toothpicks and the number of holes that need to be punched by the Taj Mahal, I did it faster, but it took 6 months.

In 2016, the work of One Pillar Pagoda built with a toothpick 0.99 mm high, completed within 6 months, brought architect Hoang Tuan Long a certificate of Guinness Vietnam record.

In April 2016, architect Hoang Tuan Long came to the Northeast of the United States with a model of the Capitol dome that he had never seen with his own eyes:

Model of One Pillar Pagoda made of toothpicks. Photo courtesy of songngumedia.com

Talking about the Capitol, I like the architecture of this building, it's beautiful and balanced, movies and things, and especially writer Dan Brown describe the Capitol very carefully, which I read and fell in love with so I decided to do it. try.

I went to google again to find images, redraw and start doing it. The attraction is that the whole building located on Capitol Hill is very beautiful, the highlight of the building is the dome, that dome.  I chose the dome I made first to see if I could do it because I couldn't imagine how difficult it was.

It's really hard when doing it, doing it and then giving up and giving up a lot. I use more than 30,000 toothpicks everywhere, and acrylic can't be counted because they are cut pieces, I only know the number of holes to pierce through must be more than 60,000. It took me about 3 months to make that dome.

And as mentioned, thanks to the introduction of friends and acquaintances in US Asia Links, the model of the Capitol dome by architect Hoang Tuan Long is known and caught the eye of Ripley's Believe It Or. Not, where there have been many world-famous architectural models designed with matchsticks or bamboo or wood with a size many times smaller than possible.

For architect Hoang Tuan Long, in addition to being proud of his work catching Ripley's eyes, another happiness is seeing with his own eyes a massive architectural complex that reflects the length of history. The legislature of a powerful country called the United States of America:

The indescribable feeling, "Oh here it is", in my head, I thought. The thing that I never dreamed of before is now lying in front of me, how interesting! I think this has to be done but just the dome or else I blame myself because it's so pretty.

The thought of finishing the two wings on the right and left of the Capitol came to architect Hoang Tuan Long's mind when the Ripley Museum, through the Washington Post, contacted and ordered the work that the author had to save. United States to assemble the final stages. Until the end, a total of about 250,000 toothpicks were used for this work of art:

If we calculate the time, it's probably about 7 months and I plan to finish it by the beginning of August 2016. I made this building with an interest in art, feeling the beauty of America's long historical architecture. I'm just trying to do my best to show an iconic work of America with Vietnamese materials. The spirit of it may not be fully felt by me because I am not an American, but I feel the grandeur, majesty, and beauty of this building.

Vietnamese image in the work

It is known that after the model of a miniature One Pillar Pagoda with toothpicks, architect Hoang Tuan Long thought of designing a model of Ngo Mon gate in Hue and Ben Thanh Market in Saigon. With a trip to the US to both work and visit this country, talented artist Ms. Hoang Tuan Long knows he will not stop there:

Ngo Mon Gate in Hue and Ben Thanh Market are already in the plan, I will continue to do it when I have time. I also dream a little bit tall to do famous works, for example, the National Mall in Washington, because here there are many beautiful buildings, from the Smithsonian museum, the Smithsonian Castle, then the White House, the Pencil, and the library. Especially the library is so beautiful, I want to do more work like that.

It is a dream right now when architect Hoang Tuan Long talks with Thanh Truc in the United States. But one idea that has been burning in this architect's mind for a long time is how to commercialize the BOARC field to help people with disabilities such as dumb, deaf, or paralyzed get jobs without having to move multiple transfers:

I don't know anything about business, I only know how to make art and architecture, but I want my products to be commercialized so that I can invite people with disabilities, people who are deaf or have disabilities. Something difficult about work, for example, is they can make these products. I want that.