'The World's Narrowest House'

Polish architect Jakub Szczesny claims to have built the world's narrowest house, just 122 centimetres across at its widest point.

The Keret House is squeezed into a crevice between two buildings in the centre of Warsaw and will provide a temporary home for travelling writers.

"It started with the space," Szczesny told Dezeen, after explaining how he came across the site when walking home one day. "I started to think who could live there. It had to be a person that would like to be a hermit, someone who would like to spend time alone doing something, but doing what?"

Szczesny, who is one of the co-founders of arts group Centrala, approached Israeli writer Etgar Keret to get involved in the project and the pair started developing a triangular house with just enough space for a single inhabitant to live and work. "It requires a sense of humour, as you cannot stay long in a place like this," joked Szczesny.

The body of the house is raised up on stilts and a staircase leads inside from underneath.

At its narrowest point the house is no more than 72 centimetres wide. "Everything was custom and everything needed to be pushed," said Szczesny, explaining how they managed to fit in all the necessary furnishings.

The house will remain in place for at least two years, but could end up staying for good. "It has already become a Warsaw icon and is already on the tourist map," said the architect.

Other narrow buildings we've featured include a house with a two-metre-wide wing in Japan and an "eels-nest" house in Los Angeles.

Photography is by Bartek Warzecha, © Polish Modern Art Foundation, The National Centre for Culture.

Narrowest House by dzuturum

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