Last year, Israeli writer Etgar Keret saw some of the fantastical elements of his fiction become reality with the opening of the “Keret House” in Warsaw, Poland, which claims the title of world’s narrowest home.
At its skinniest, the building—which you can see photos of here—is 28 inches wide. It features a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom. Yet despite being so laterally challenged, the house has high ceilings and bathes in soft natural light.
Jakub Szczesny, the house’s Polish architect, was inspired when he passed the slender space between two buildings. And when he tried to imagine the perfect resident for such a bizarre domicile, Keret immediately came to mind.
Szczesny says he “wanted to make a house in proportion to [Keret’s] stories,” which are known for their surrealist and often magical minimalism.
The house serves as both an art installation and a residency program which will host artists and writers from around the world.
Keret himself doesn’t spend much time there but, he says, “It seems fitting to try to create in it. The house will be a portal to all kinds of artistic initiatives.” And coincidentally, the house stands on the very spot where Keret’s mother, a Warsaw native, smuggled food to her parents in the wartime ghetto.
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