In Warsaw, Poland in the district of Wola lies a small crack of space between the buildings on 22 Chłodna Street and 74 Żelazna Street. Jakub Szczęsny of Centrala, recognized the potential to create something unique within this narrow area, and derived a design of an art installation entitled Keret House. The house upon completion shall become the narrowest house in Warsaw, measuring an interior that will vary between 122 centimeters and 72 centimeters in its narrowest spot.
Architects: Centrala Location: Wola, Poland Designer: Jakub Szczęsny Project Area: 14,5 sqm Project Year: December 2011 Project Curators: Sarmen Beglarian, Sylwia Szymaniak Project Announcement: Wola Art Festival “CityProjectWola“ Organizers: Modern Polish Art Foundation, President Piotr Nowicki, Wola District Office of the Capital City of Warsaw; Coordinator Anna Fiszer-Nowacka; Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska w Warszawie, Coordinator Judyta Nekanda-Trepka
The house will be a workplace, a hermitage created for an outstanding Isreali writer, Etgar Keret. Besides, it will also fulfill a function of a studio for invited guests – young creators and intellectualists from all over the world.
The residential program, conducted in the heart of Wola, is supposed to produce creative work conditions and become a significant platform for world intellectual exchange.
Structurally the house is a simple tri-dimensional steel frame finished with plywood, insulated sandwich panels and styrofoam covered with concrete cloth painted white.
The interior will also be painted all white.
The “living” will place itself on the transformable, remote control openable stairs, that flatten themselves when being in”up” position and become regular stairs when going down.
It will be equipped with boat-inspired water and sewage technology independent from city systems, the electricity will be delivered by a neighboring building.
Currently the house is receiving building permits as art installation, since it doesn’t fulfill any existing Polish building codes, the building process is supposed to start in September.
