Moses Mabhida a model stadium

Durban's spectacular Moses Mabhida World Cup stadium is now available to be built as a small-scale 3D paper model.

The tiny replica, launched by a European Internet-based paper model company, joins other global landmarks in the range, including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and the Taj Mahal.

The stadium, considered the country's finest, is the first and only SA landmark available on the site. It has already been down-loaded by more than 100 users.

The company, Paperlandmarks in Latvia, scales down models of world-famous architectural landmarks.

The kits involve the Kirigami technique and uses a cutting and folding method. The method is a distance cousin of the more famous Origami technique, which involves folding only.

Paperlandmarks CEO Imants Caklais told the Sunday Times that the stadium was chosen to celebrate the World Cup.

''As the World Cup was approaching, we thought about making a model of a South African landmark, and the newly opened Durban stadium caught our eye for its spectacular form.

"So we decided to make a free model for fans to download ..." he said.

Caklais said he started the company ten years ago and his best-sellers have been the Globe Theatre, the Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower and the Greek Parthenon.

''I am a huge fan of football, watching every World and European Cup since 1982 Espana. Latvia didn't qualify for World Cup 2010, but still there are a lot of fans watching each and every match.

''While researching materials about the stadium, I virtually visited Durban and can say it's a fantastic city and hope to visit it one day in reality."

The easy-to-assemble model takes around three hours to complete and can be downloaded free from http://www.paperlandmarks.com.