Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer who is very popular in Poland. I too am a fan. He is known best for his short stories which are amazing and absurd. It’s hard to write about them, it’s best just to read them, but… hey… why am I writing about him on Spotted by Locals?
I should start from the beginning. Jakub Szczęsny, a young architect, took a look at Warsaw and saw a city broken and later put together out of pieces that didn’t necessarily go together. Remnants of pre-war neighborhoods, brand new skyscrapers, social realist apartment blocks and in between bits and pieces of empty spaces and mysterious places left over from decades of recreating Warsaw over and over and over again. And so he decided to fill a 152 centimeter hole in the city. In between the buildings on Chłodna 22 and Żelazna 74 the world’s skinniest house was created. At its skinniest point it is a mere 92 centimeters wide. Hard to believe… and also easy to miss if you don’t know to look for it!
Keret has spent time in the house and will stay there during his frequent visits to Warsaw and invite guests to join him. When he is away however, the house serves as a creative studio for artists.
It’s fitting: a house as amazing and absurd as the writer it was created for.
Keep a look out for Open House days on the website and see the house for yourself!
