The Early Modernist Centre of Gdynia has been officially submitted as a Polish candidate for inscription on UNESCO World Heritage List.
The application – prepared by City Hall of Gdynia and recommended by the Committee for World Cultural Heritage in Poland under the Minister of Culture and National Heritage was signed by the Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, General Conservator of Monuments Dr Jaroslaw Sellin. The documentation was handed over to Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Center in Paris.
‘We have prepared a draft of the application, which was assessed by the National Heritage Institute, the World Heritage Committee in Poland, and after a positive opinion, the final decision was made and the application was signed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. From now on it is no longer an application of the city, but of the Republic of Poland. The application will be formally checked in February. If it is verified positively, UNESCO will forward it to its ICOMOS agency, which is to prepare a decisive report. They have fifteen months to do this, so in May next year it should be ready and then, if of course the outcome of the evaluation is positive, it will be presented to the international commission which meets in July. However, it may turn out that ICOMOS, in the course of its research, demands supplementation of the application and then the report will not be ready before July 2024. Then we will have to wait until next summer. Also, we still have a long way to go,’ informs Marek Stępa, head of the Gdynia Heritage Protection Department of Gdynia City Hall.’
Justification of the request
The justification for the application emphasises that the Modernist Centre of Gdynia demonstrates the significant exchange of cultural and social values and the breakthrough in the development of architecture and urbanism that took place in the 1920s and 1930s when a completely new concept of “a building that is so different from those that preceded it that the new architecture becomes a fact, not a possibility.”
The design of the centre of Gdynia illustrates various aspects of early modernism, which are distinct from other modernist structures that were constructed before and after the Second World War.
Gdynia’s distinctive local context is showcased by its port and landscape, with nautical references and maritime symbolism still strongly present. The city centre has kept its original attributes from the early modern period of 1926-1939 intact, ensuring that the overall identity of the city is preserved. This is supported by the fact that the layout of the area remains highly legible and well-protected.
Procedure for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List
Each year, state parties to the World Heritage Convention can submit one nomination for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The formal evaluation cycle begins in February. The first step is for the World Heritage Centre to verify the application for completeness. If successful at this stage, a substantive evaluation process follows, which takes at least 1.5 years. An advisory organisation to the World Heritage Committee finalises it by the recommendation. The application is then discussed at a session of the World Heritage Committee, during which a binding decision is made.
Author: Magdalena Śliżewska (m.slizewska@gdynia.pl)
Modernist downtown Gdynia // photo P. Kozłowski, B. Zalewski, Z.Treppa