Leon Mazalon's Modern Architecture | Archi-Walk in the series: 'Architects of Gdynia Modernism', 15 February, 2025
Your Saturday invite to Archi-Walk – by Gdynia Modernism Trail
The City of Gdynia and Gdynia Modernism Trail would like you to join an Archi-Walk along a premiere route with modern architecture created by Leon Mazalon, in the series: 'Architects of Gdynia Modernism' | ADMISSION FREE
Starting point:
•‘Centre of Modernism in Gdynia’ (City Tourist Information), No. 24 10 Lutego Street, Gdynia
Time and date:
•12:00 PM | 15 February, 2025
Led by:
•Robert Chrzanowski – a researcher of modernism and a tour guide of Gdynia Modernism Trail
Coordination:
•Gdynia Modernism Trail / Gdynia Development Agency (Agencja Rozwoju Gdyni)
A R C H I T E C T >>>> L E O N M A Z A L O N
Among the architects who shaped the architectural look of Gdynia during the interwar period, the figure of Leon Mieczysław Mazalon (1902-1973) seems to be hidden in the shadows, and yet the biography and achievements of this graduate of the Gdańsk University of Technology (1928) were extremely colorful and impressive.
Leon Mazalon was born near Kruszwica, took part in the Greater Poland Uprising, and then began his education at the Officer's School of Cavalry in Grudziądz. After graduating this school, he took up architectural studies. When he obtained his diploma, he opened his own establishment in Gdynia. During World War II, he stayed in Warsaw and actively participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, Leon Mazalon returned to Gdynia, and then started working for the Gdańsk University of Technology. He is buried in the Witomiński Cemetery.
Leon Mazalon's achievements include impressive apartment houses with rich bodies and a wide range of architectural expressions, one of which, situated at 122 Świętojańska Street became iconic for Gdynia's modernism, his more modest creations can be found at 40-42 Krasickiego Street and 9 Matejki Street; he also designed, among others, villas on Kamienna Góra (at 21 Żołnierzy I Armii Wojska Polskiego Street, and 38 Sienkiewicza Street). The projects created after 1945 are also noteworthy, where he returned to traditional architectural forms (at 4 Piłsudskiego Street and 4 Matejki Street).