It's the American dream in action: A young boy trains to be an architect, but then uses his God-given talent for constructing crazy structures out of playing cards to break Guinness records and, eventually, build a life-size rendition of Holiday Inn room using hotel key cards.

Bryan Berg has been a professional "cardstacker" for a while now. (His prior work includes a "Dark Knight"-sponsored rendition of Gotham City, which he stacked in Antwerp.) And while we're normally not fans of shamelessly over-the-top corporate PR stunts, Berg's 400-square-foot Key Card Hotel is a hell of a lot better than, say, a toilet paper fashion show for charity.

Berg says that cardstacking isn't a secret art; he claims that even second graders, with a small amount of training, can "build three or four stories and stack encyclopedias on top of it." While he may be a world-record holder, he's not superhuman: "I don't really have any special skills. My hands are not freakishly stable or steady. It's just a matter of getting used to doing something and knowing what to look for and staying calm. Not letting it freak you out. When I'm working on stuff, I'm not worried about it just crashing to the ground. I pretty much know that it's gonna work."

Cardstacking also seems like an excellent way to pick up chicks -- what woman wouldn't swoon over a dude who can build a miniature replica of the Capitol Building out of playing cards? But before you get lost in Neil Straussian seduction schemes, Berg cautions: "I guess if you're in a bar stacking cards you might pick up ... a beer."