Architektura w śródmieściu Gdyni po 1989 roku wobec tradycji modernistycznej

The following article explores the recurring stylistic tendencies in the architecture of Gdynia after 1989, and seeks to identify their origins. The study encompasses four distinguished areas in the city centre, and places emphasis on the relationship between the contemporary (and postmodern) architecture and the architectural legacy of Gdynia’s inner city, which can be broadly defined as ‘modernist’. Based on a series of case studies, the Author has distinguished three intertwined architectural tendencies, each of them referring in their own way to the local context. Often manifested in the same architectural designs and, therefore, inseparable, these tendencies cannot be strictly delimited. They are: ‘regionalist tendency’ deploying architectural forms of the interwar origin, ‘semiotic tendency’ which perceives architecture as the system of signs, and ‘technologising tendency’ of which strive for the ‘high-tech’ appearance can be considered an ideological continuation of the modern imperative of progress. To conclude, contemporary architecture in Gdynia represents, widely understood, contextualism: comprising all of the aforementioned tendencies. Tis status quo is reinforced by the strong need to maintain the continuity of the city’s architecture, but also of its identity. As a result of operating with a relatively limited range of means of expression, architecture in Gdynia constitutes a coherent whole, which can be considered an advantage for the local landscape. Nonetheless, the notorious and often naive application of widely accepted patterns originating from the vocabulary of West European modernism, and the limitations inherent in that approach, should be definitely pointed out for further scrutiny.