Abstract

The concept of the Premiere District in Gdynia was first conceived in the 1920s and from that time on it constantly accompanied the history of the city. It derivated from the idea of creating a symbol of Poland's regaining independence after the first World War and the successful creation of the new port and city on the Baltic coast. As the result of that development, Gdynia was named the maritime capital of Poland and was treated as the Polish "gate to the sea", and the "maritime façade" of the II Republic.The embodiment of those ideas were the legendary sketches of the Premiere District, pre-pared in the second half of the thirties by the architect Stanisław Filipkowski and his team from the City's Architectural Office in Gdynia. The area of the District comprised the territory of the South Mole and the ones on its both sides, with the Yachting Basin and the President's Quay near the harbour. It formed a spatial prolongation of the main axis of the downtown - 10 Lutego Street and Kościuszki Square - and the spatial opening to the sea. Building of the Premier District started in the end of the thirties. The main edifices which were planned there were the Maritime Basilica and the Town Hall - both situated on the elegant square by the sea - and the Seat of the Polish Sailors on the South Mole. Unfortunately, the realisation of that ambitious plan was broken by the outbreak of the World War II.Later, after 1945, the subject was present again, but in completely different political situa-tion. Poland lost its independence, and Gdynia itself became a part of the agglomeration of Gdańsk. In the 50s and 60s the vicinity of the South Mole was meant to create a visual symbol of the new, socialistic ideology and the new, social-realistic trends in architecture. A few sketches of the so called "Maritime Forum" were proposed during that time, but the functional programme of the very complex was changed and left without its main monumental edifices - the Maritime Basilica and the Town Hall. None of the projects was realized however, and as the result, in the 60s and 70s, a chaotic build up of the territory was started. The large buildings of that time, such as the Musical Theatre and the Hotel Gdynia, were not arranged in a consistent urban assembly and not harmonized with each other.After the great political changes of the year 1989 once again the Premiere District became a subject of interest. The city's authorities declared continuation of the inter-war ideas of the "city open to the sea", but the practice appeared somewhat different. The new architectural and urban projects of the district, which have been prepared one by one starting from the 90s - project of the World Trade Centre, of the Sea Towers and of the Cultural Centre - are debatable in many ways. Aimed at greater density, they are not satisfactory as far as shaping the maritime public space is concerned. One can clearly spot the three main "sins" of the new concepts. Firstly - there is the high, dark grey Sea-Towers apartment house build on the President's Quay in 2007-2009, with its ground floor destroying the maritime boulevard and its back turned to the city's pub-lic space. Secondly - the new master plan of the territory finished in 2010, which introduces only narrow walkways through the densely built-up area along the Quay and throughout the whole urban quarter. And last but not least - the new project of the Cultural Centre in Europe's Council Park, which forgets to open the visual perspective to the Yachting Basin nearby.In the meantime, the main part of the Premier District - the South Mole itself - was listed (2007), as a part of inter-war downtown of Gdynia. But unfortunately, the unique spatial virtues of its territory are now partly spoiled, by cars parking densely along, and chaotic, temporary booths with gastronomy.Koncepcja gdyńskiej Dzielnicy Reprezentacyjnej zrodziła się w okresie międzywojennym i od tego czasu stale towarzyszy dziejom miasta. U jej podstaw leżała chęć stworzenia w strukturze przestrzennej Gdyni symbolu obecności Polski nad Bałtykiem oraz sukcesu jakim była budowa portu i miasta. Kreowana wysiłkiem całego państwa morska stolica II Rzeczypospolitej miała stanowić jej "morską fasadę", znak wizualnej identyfikacji z morzem. Realizacją tych zamierzeń były pochodzące z okresu międzywojennego, legendarne i inspirujące projekty Dzielnicy Reprezentacyjnej. Później, po 1945 r., temat ten został ponownie podjęty, lecz już w innej rzeczywistości społecznej i politycznej. Wówczas ideę Dzielnicy Reprezentacyjnej pojmowano już nie w kategorii identyfikacji państwa i miasta z morzem, lecz jako manifestację nowej, socjalistycznej rzeczywistości. Podjętym w latach sześćdziesiątych realizacjom brak było jednak urbanistycznej spójności. Po wielkich przemianach ustrojowych 1989 r. ponownie podjęto problem Dzielnicy Reprezentacyjnej Gdyni, nazywając ten rejon bardzo obiecująco miejską strefą prestiżu. Szybko się jednak okazało, że wyrywkowo przejmowane pod zabudowę poszczególne fragmenty dawnej Dzielnicy Reprezentacyjnej w dość dyskusyjny sposób interpretują krajobrazowy związek z morzem. Powstające kolejno projekty World Trade Center, Sea Towers, Centrum Kultury czy Forum Morskiego proponują po północnej stronie Mola Południowego zabudowę tak intensywną i gęstą, że na otwarcie miasta na morze właściwie nie zostaje miejsca.

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