Gdansk and Gdynia, Poland Tour
Gdansk and Gdynia, Poland Tour
Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 September 2025
Start time/place: 3 pm/ Holiday Inn, Gdansk,
Finish time/place: 12 noon/European Solidarity Centre, Gdansk
A tour led by Eddie Tulasiewicz through the past and present of Baltic Poland, visiting the historic city of Gdansk and the modernist interwar port of Gdynia.
Ninety-five per cent of Gdansk was destroyed in the Second World War. We will see communist era architecture including: The Wave/Falowiec, a huge public housing complex (Danuta Olędzka, Tadeusz Różański, Janusz Morka, 1970-73); the interior of the Technician’s House (Szczepan Baum i Danuta Olędzka, 1969 –74), a socialist/modernist fusion with unique ceramic decoration; Museum of the Second World War 2017 (Studio Architektoniczne Kwadrat); and inside the brutalist church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Leopold Taraszkiewicz, 1979).
There will be a chance to see the postwar rebuilding of the city centre of Gdansk and examples of recent architecture including a tour (TBC) of the European Solidarity Centre, (Wojciech Targowski, Piotr Mazur, Antoni Taraszkiewicz and Paweł Czarzasty, 2015); and inside the new Shakespeare Theatre (Renato Rizzi, 2015).
Gdynia is a jewel of modernist interwar architecture. Built after Poland regained independence in 1918 it was the country’s main port, as neighbouring Gdansk (Free City of Danzig) remained dominated by Germany. The city grew rapidly in the 1920’s and 30’s, and survived the second world war almost unscathed.
We will discover Gdynia’s civic buildings, housing, maritime and industrial buildings that are both beautiful and functional. These will include: the Social Insurance Institution housing and office building (Roman Piotrowski, 1936); a range of port and warehouse buildings; inside the Maritime Station (Andrew Bomerski, 1933), with an Art-Deco style façade; and private villas including the Opalanka family house (Wlodzimierz Prochaska, 1939). The city hopes to receive UNESCO world heritage status this year.
Outline Itinerary
Thursday 4 – afternoon Gdansk walking tour. Reception with Polish Architects' Association (TBC).
Friday 5 – morning Gdansk walking tour, afternoon coach tour and visits. Evening Dinner.
Saturday 6 – full day coach tour to Gdynia.
Sunday 7 – morning Gdansk walking tour.
Eddie Tulasiewicz is editor of the National Churches Trust Annual Review. He has worked on the BBC2 architecture series ‘Building Sights’ with Daniel Libeskind and Vaclav Havel. In 2024 he led the 20th Century Society tour of Katowice
C20 Members £360
(Included in the price: coach travel, group dinner and a contribution to the casework and campaigning activities of the society)
Numbers limited to 30
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Above: Muzeum II Wojny Światowej (Museum of the Second World War), Gdańsk, Poland - Studio Architektoniczne Kwadrat, 2017
Image credit: Adam Kumiszcza, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
The Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244