an architect and architecture historian, professor of technical sciences, employee of the Faculty of Architecture of the Gdańsk University of Technology. For many years, a researcher of the City of Gdynia and the author of fundamental publications on the city's spatial development and architecture (including: Gdynia – miasto dwudziestolecia międzywojennego. Urbanistyka i architektura / Gdynia – the City of the Interwar Period. Urban Planning and Architecture, Warsaw 1993, Na styku dwóch epok. Architektura gdyńskich kamienic okresu międzywojennego / At the Turn of Two Epochs. Architecture of the Apartment Houses of Gdynia in the Interwar Period, Gdynia 2003, Orłowo – perła międzywojennej Gdyni. Dzieje i architektura / Orłowo – the Pearl of Interwar Gdynia. History and Architecture, Gdynia 2013). Professor Sołtysik contributed greatly to the discovery of Gdynia's architectural heritage and its wider promotion on a supra-local scale. Maria J. Sołtysik is socially involved in activities related to the popularisation and protection of the architectural heritage of Gdynia. She is an activist of the Society of Friends of Orłowo (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Orłowa) and the "Historic Gdynia" ('Zabytkowa Gdynia') Association. A co-editor of a series of scientific publications in the series "Modernism in Europe – Modernism in Gdynia" published by Gdynia City Hall and Gdańsk University of Technology. She participates socially in numerous lectures and trips for residents showing the values of the City's cultural heritage. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 2023, she was awarded the prestigious Professor Jan Zachwatowicz Award for outstanding achievements in the field of research and conservation of monuments. Professor Maria J. Sołtysik is one of the co-authors of a scientific study on "Gdynia Early Modernist City Centre", which is the basis for the UNESCO List candidacy.
Professor of Architectural History at The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) in London, where he is also the director of Architecture and Historical Urban Environments. He has worked on many research and projects in the field of cultural heritage, in various global contexts, including Asia, Africa and Europe. In 2016, he won the RIBA President's Medal for Research for his work on the nomination of Asmara, the modernist capital of Eritrea, for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in 2017 for his work on modernism in Manchuria. He visited Gdynia many times, including participating in conferences "Modernism in Europe – Modernism in Gdynia", and as one of the first foreign researchers, he emphasized its supra-local values, which was another impulse to start activities related to the submission of Gdynia to the UNESCO World Heritage List. He was a consultant on documentation on the Early Modernist City Centre of Gdynia, submitted together with the application for inscription on the UNESCO List.
Associate Professor of Architectural History at The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), where he is also Director of the MA Architecture and Historic Urban Environments. He has worked on a variety of research and heritage projects in different global contexts, including Asia, Africa and Europe. In 2016 and 2017, he won the RIBA President's Medal for Research for his work on the UNESCO World Heritage Nomination of Asmara, the modernist capital of Eritrea, and for his work on Ultra-Modernism in Manchuria respectively.
Dr. Arch. Jeremie Hoffmann has been the Head of the Conservation Department for the city of Tel Aviv since 2005, he is also the founder of the "International Networking Forum of Modern Cities". As the director of the modern urban complex of the "White City of Tel Aviv", inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003, he aims to develop new strategies related to the intensive development of cities and its impact on the subject of monument protection. Jeremie Hoffmann teaches at many universities, he published "Aforia", a book on brutalism in architecture. Dr. Hoffmann visited Gdynia several times, including his participation in conferences "Modernism in Europe – Modernism in Gdynia", and also as a conservator and representative of the city of Tel Aviv, he drew attention to the unique values of the city centre of Gdynia, recommending that the local community take action to submit Gdynia's candidacy for UNESCO's World Heritage List. He also developed his own concept of inscribing Gdynia on the List, based on the Tel Aviv's experience. He was the host of a study visit to Tel Aviv made by representatives of Gdynia, which allowed for the commencement of comparative research of both cities.
Dr. Arch. Jeremie Hoffmann has been the head of the Conservation Department of Tel Aviv since 2005. He is the founder of the International Networking Forum of Modern Cities. As he director of the Modern site of the White City of Tel Aviv, inscribed by UNESCO in 2003, he aims to develop new strategies for dealing with development in cities and its relevance to conservation. Hoffmann teaches in various universities and published his book ‘Aforia’ on the Brutalist architectural style.
Father Jacek Bramorski is a long-time parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Gdynia. A unique parish church, located in Armii Krajowej Street, known as one of the first churches in Poland built after the thaw of 1956, it is the main church of the modernist city centre, located next to the most important icons of Gdynia's modernism. Father Jacek Bramorski, in addition to his pastoral and scientific activities (he is a professor at the Academy of Music), after taking over the parish and the care of the church, found a great liking for modernist architecture and with a great enthusiasm began comprehensive restoration work on this building. In 2015, at his instigation, the church was entered in the register of monuments. In the following years, systematic conservation works were carried out on subsequent parts of the building. The culmination of these activities was the award of the church with the prestigious title of "Well-groomed Monument", in the competition organised by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, in 2023.