Starowiejska Street (formerly Wiejska Street) is an example of a relatively successful coexistence of different epochs and architectural trends.
Here, the first apartment house in Gdynia, with a height of four storeys was born (at 9 Starowiejska Street), built in 1929 by Józef Tutkowski. Soon afterwards, the highest building in that part of Poland (five storeys, plus a residential attic) was raised, as the corner Antoni Jaworowicz Apartment House, originally crowned with a miniature of the Statue of Liberty (47 Starowiejska Street).
However, the beginning of the 1930s marked a diversion from the style of traditional town houses, which drew mainly from the resort and historical styles. Starowiejska Street courageously enters into the modern era.
The milestones of the development of Gdynia's modernism include the "Pożytek 2" apartment house (at 52 Starowiejska Street). It was only the second project in Gdynia that combined the convention of moderate modernism with functionalism. This house had a flat roof, a recessed top storey, which created an impressive terrace, and additionally a metal balustrade and semi-cylindrical balconies. The ground floor was occupied by shops, and both the design of the shop windows and the portal in the ground floor, as well as the façade with its rhythm of windows and lisenes, draw attention to their geometric aesthetics. Striking geometric accents can also be found in the entrance gate and the staircase of the Augustyn Grzenkiewicz Apartment House (at 32 Starowiejska Street). It is a good idea to start the walk along Starowiejska Street with a short loop through 3 Maja Street, Zgody Street and Mściwoja Street. In this part, we can learn about several high-class examples of Gdynia's modernism, including the spectacular shape of the ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) office and residential building (at no. 22 3 Maja Street), a luxurious apartment house designed by Zbigniew Kupiec and Tadeusz Kossak (no. 21 3 Maja Street), and in Zgody Street – one of the most interesting portals in modernist houses (at 4-6 Zgody Street). Returning to Starowiejska Street, we will find, among others, a carefully composed frontage of four apartment houses representing an example of the 1930s functionalism (nos. 19-21-23 Starowiejska Street). One of houses – the Franciszek Wegner Apartment House – has a unique plasterboard frame imitating stone, through the use of deep, asymmetrical cuts in concrete slabs, highlighted with yellow streaks. Without any doubt, the corner Hundsdorff Family Apartment House can be called a jewel of modernism (at 7 Starowiejska Street), referring by its bowed silhouette to marine style. The "Modern Starowiejska Street" route also shows interesting examples of post-war modernism, such as the "Bałtyk" Housing Association residential complex at 31-35 Starowiejska Street.
