Fully-functional house will exist in the space between two buildings
Be careful when you yawn! If you stretch your arms out to your sides in the Ermitaż, you'll hit the walls — the house being built in Warsaw by the Centrala architecture firm measures just 52.4 inches at its widest point. Much like the Cube and the Shelf-Pod bookshelf house, the Ermitaż is designed to make maximum use of limited space.
In this case, very limited space. The house will be built in a narrow alleyway between two existing buildings. At its narrowest point, it will be less than 28.3 inches wide. It will be created on a "tri-dimensional steel frame finished with plywood, insulated sandwich panels and styrofoam covered with concrete cloth painted white." Access will be via a remote-controlled staircase that lowers down from the bottom of the house, and water and sewage will be taken care of by a system inspired by those used on boats.
Since the structure doesn't actually meet Polish building codes, it's being created as an art installation. Whether or not it's actually the narrowest house in the world depends on how you define the parameters. A house in Scotland called the Wedge currently claims that distinction, clocking in at just 47 inches at its narrowest point, but it widens to 22 feet as it goes back from the road. Another house in Brazil also claims to be the narrowest house in the world, at barely 39 inches wide at its narrowest point.
The Ermitaż will also function as a studio for creators and intellectuals from around the world; its first tenant will be Israeli writer Etgar Karet. The program aims to "produce creative work conditions and become a significant platform for world intellectual exchange."
Post by Katherine Gray
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