In 2017 Tel Aviv came up with the initiative of the International Modern Cities Forum in order to confront its own experiences related to the conservation of such an extensive and specific monument with that of other cities with similar cultural resources, such as Brasilia, Chandigar, Le Havre, Casablanca, Berlin, Kaunas and Gdynia. The first forum was hosted by the initiators of the event – Tel Aviv, the second was held in Kaunas, and the third one took place in Gdynia, organised in cooperation with the Berlin Branch of the Pilecki Institute.
The Modern Cities Forum was created four years ago. In order to establish cooperation between the cities whose modernism has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and other cities that are modernist, but the process of inscription on the list is still ongoing, or the cities whose heritage is recognised by their country and their society. This cooperation is undertaken in order to properly manage the cities in question. Adapting them to a large population, properly recognising their heritage, and appropriately planning and drawing up far-reaching plans. I love Gdynia. This is not the first time I visit this city. It's amazing. I think it should be part of the UNESCO World Heritage. It is a symbol of the struggle of humanity during the events of the 20th century. The creation of a new city, a port and technology make it a beautiful city.
Jeremie Hoffmann, Tel Aviv Municipal Conservator of Monuments.
As part of the Forum, the Mayors' Debate has already taken place, and the Debate of Conservators is also planned. The participants of the online Mayors' Debate were: Wojciech Szczurek, Mayor of Gdynia, Assaf Harel, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Saulius Rimas, Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Kaunas and Joao Moro representing the city of Brasilia. They talked about the similarities and diversities of cities and the resulting common or different experiences.
During the debate, Wojciech Szczurek outlined the history of the creation of the port in Gdynia, near which the city grew according to a bold and specific plan, in the modernist trend developing in the 1920s. He explained that despite the Second World War and the years of the Polish People's Republic, the historical modernist tissue of the city has been preserved, and in recent years its splendor has been restored with respect for the traditions and original assumptions of the city's construction.
When asked by the moderator, Jeremy Hoffmann, about how he would describe the boundaries between the heritage of the city and the living entity, the Mayor of Gdynia emphasised that the historical, most valuable city centre is as alive as possible, and new investment projects are implemented consciously, following a very strong regime of spatial development plans, with respect for the modernist thought. The Mayor pointed out that the development of the historical city centre was facilitated by the fact that the construction of the city was interrupted by the Second World War, which is why there were undeveloped areas, currently supplemented by investments that are not supposed to imitate pre-war modernism, but refer to its spirit and form. The Mayor asserted that investors are proud to enter into a dialogue with modernism.
Moreover, the preservation of the historical modernist fabric, as the Mayor said, is facilitated by the fact that to a large extent the functions of the buildings raised before the war have been preserved to this day.
These buildings have their owners who have a very emotional relationship with them and are strong allies in the interest of restoring their beauty and various types of activities promoting this heritage. These are the next generations of those who erected these buildings. There are also such objects as, for example, the Emigration Museum, which thanks to very modern, new functions, integrated into the former Marine Station, has gained a new dimension. But at the same time, the implementation of these new functions was an excellent pretext and reason to restore the beauty, architectural details and awareness of this architecture to all those who visit such places today, and on the occasion of a visit to a very modern and very attractive museum, they could also have a chance to admire the unusual architecture of this building.
President of Gdynia, Wojciech Szczurek
Gdynia, while drawing tourists with its natural attractions such as the sea and beach, or events such as the Open'er music festival or the Polish Film Festival, also tries to introduce visitors to modernism, and extends the tourist season to spring and autumn.
Representatives of other cities spoke of similarities and differences in caring for and preserving their modernist buildings. Tel Aviv, for example, is facing great development and a doubling of its population in a short period of time, which forces a strong expansion of the city, as it lacks space, and also it is struggling with a decreasing amount of green space. Out of 5,000 modernist buildings raised in the 1920s and 1930s, it was decided that the 1,000 most valuable would remain unchanged, while the others would be either expanded – by adding storeys, or demolished to build new, higher buildings in their place, but with the modernist tradition preserved. The city must simply remain a living, developing organism and a balance must be found between the identity of buildings and the identity of people, said Deputy Mayor Assaf Harel.
The representatives of Brasilia and Kaunas emphasised the differences between their cities and Gdynia and Tel Aviv. Brasilia, like the Polish and Jewish cities, grew from scratch, only not by the sea, but in the depths of the continent, where there was only jungle. Today, Brazil's modernist capital is the link for all citizens and attracts people from all directions with work prospects, as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo did before. Kaunas, on the other hand, unlike the other three cities, is an old centre, established already in the Middle Ages, and owes its modernist character to the interwar period, when it was the temporary capital of Lithuania and needed to erect buildings characteristic of all European capitals of that period. Later in the 3rd Modern Cities Forum, we will be treated to the Debate of Conservators, which will be streamed live on the YouTube channel Modernism in Europe – Modernism in Gdynia.
Author: Przemysław Kozłowski (p.kozlowski@gdynia.pl)