We’ve heard of micro-apartments in New York and San Francisco, but one tiny house in Poland may have trumped them all.
Wedged in an alleyway between two apartment blocks, the ‘world’s thinnest house’ opened this Sunday in Warsaw. The triangular dwelling is 33 feet long and 5 feet wide at its widest point. In some places it narrows to just 3 feet.
The house’s architect, Jakub Szczesny, insists he hasn’t skimped on the basics. “It contains all necessary amenities such as a micro-kitchen, mini-bathroom, sleeping cubicle and tiny work area, all accessible via ladders,” he told Britain’s Metro newspaper. “I think plenty of light is most important in order to eliminate the fear of the small space.”
The house does indeed have an airy feel thanks to its white interior and a steeply pitched roof made of polycarbonate skylights, reports Smart Planet. The downside? The tiny bathroom features a combined shower and toilet.
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Szczesny’s inspiration was the housing crunch facing many major cities worldwide. “‘Research shows we are approaching a social disaster because too little living space is built,” he said. “You don’t need that much space to live in, so it is worth considering building smaller scaled, cheaper housing.”
The house, which was originally intended as an art installation, is named after and will be lived in by Israeli writer Etgar Keret.
Other contenders for the world’s thinnest house include:
Singel 166 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A slender, quaint red home overlooking a canal in Amsterdam.
The Lucky Drop house in Tokyo, Japan
At 10 feet wide and three stories tall, it looks like a thin, transluscent hull of a boat that glows like a lantern at night, reports NPR.
This 19th century building ranges in width from 8ft 6 inches to just 2 feet. It’s been used as a cobbler’s shop and candy factory and recently went on the market for $4.3 million, reports NY Curbed.
La Casa Estrecha, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
This elegant yellow edifice’s dimensions are 5 feet by 36 feet, with two stories, reports Mother Nature Network.