The buildings in Gdynia are unique on a European scale
Gdynia is a unique place. Firstly, it is the only city in Europe that was founded during one era - the interwar period. Its modernist architecture is treated as the largest living museum of modern architecture of that time. The city has real pearls of modernism. Secondly, it has developed its own style - nautical, alluding to the architecture of the sea, ships and ships. It is unique on a European scale!
Gdynia Śródmieście was designed and built largely in the 1920s and 1930s. A unique advantage is the unique complex of modernist buildings with various functions. Young architects, planners and interior designers designed buildings resembling ocean liners, tenement houses with elements resembling ships, balconies like captain's bridges, terraces like decks, characteristic superstructures and flagpoles. Thanks to this, marinism was born - a characteristic style in construction related to modernism. Using details typical of ship architecture, the architects planned windows resembling portholes or superstructures in the shape of a captain's bridge. Both public buildings and private villas were built and maintained in this way. Modernist tenement houses were built in the very center of the city. There were shops, offices, banks, sometimes cinemas downstairs, and people lived above.
The most famous buildings are:
- ZUS residential and office complex at 10 February 24 and 3 May 22;
- house of the Employee Pension Fund of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego at 3 Maja 27/31;
- The House of the Polish Sailor (today the Navigation Department of the Maritime University) at Aleja Jana Pawła II;
- Pręczkowski's tenement house at 10 Kościuszko square;
- Hundsdorff's tenement house at ul. Starowiejska 7;
- Kamienna Góra district (here we will see a cluster of modernist luxury villas).
The fish hall is also worth mentioning. It was established in 1937 and consists of three separate parts: the arched main hall, the flat hall and the fish hall. It is an outstanding example of constructivism (it is one of the main trends in modernist architecture). It can also be seen in such buildings as: Chłodnia Portowa (ul. Polska 20), Dworzec Morski (ul. Polska 1), warehouse at ul. Polska 17.
Gdynia's interwar architecture is unique. And, as already mentioned, it is unique on a European scale! It consists of: avant-garde form of buildings, ultra-modern frame construction and poetic symbolism of the sea. Added to this are sophisticated details and meticulous details, such as cladding and plaster textures, mosaic floors, balustrades, flower beds and door handles. It is not surprising then that in 2015 the urban layout of the city center of Gdynia was recognized by the President of the Republic of Poland as a Monument of History. It is worth taking a walk and seeing this young port city from a different perspective.
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