AT THE MEETING POINT OF TWO EPOCHS. THE ARCHITECTURE OF GDYNIA TOWN HOUSES FROM THE INTER-WAR PERIOD Wyd. Alter Ego Sławomir Kitowski, Gdynia 2003, 260 pp.

Relatively recently researchers dealing with the history of architecture have become interested in Polish residential architecture from the inter-war period. Up to now, they have dealt predominantly with local attempts at the implementation of the idea of the garden city and co-operative architecture of the period – residential estates composed of uniform blocks of flats, almost universally regarded at the time as a symbol of modernity. The monographic study about the town houses of Gdynia, written by Maria Jolanta Sołtysik, presents a little known construction of the epoch – the traditional private-owned tenement house endowed with avantgarde architectural forms. The author defined the described architectural topic as “multi-storey, brick town house within a compact settlement, distinguished as regards ownership and architecture, and co-creating, together with the lot, a configuration of the traditional town-planning block and street”. Having delineated an extensive historical-architectural, town - planning, legal and social background of the period, the author conducted a functional-stylistic analysis and classification of the town houses in Gdynia. Each of the distinguished groups is accompanied by a catalogue of the buildings enlisted in it. The general part of the book contains a brief history of the European town house and discusses the transformations which occurred within architecture, especially residential, “at the meeting point of two epochs” – the twilight of historicism and the birth of contemporary architecture. The author proposed a thorough characterisation of the architectural trends and currents, placing emphasis on the fact that one of the most important transformations of the period was a new conception of the town and flat, which transferred the designers’ attention from the facade to the plan, function and construction of the building. Each of the described phenomena is illustrated with examples from Gdynia and other Polish and European cities. In the history of residential architecture in Gdynia M. J. Sołtysik distinguished three stylistic periods (1926-1930, /1927/1930-1933, 1934-1939), discussed in detail in successive chapters. The descriptions are accompanied by tables arranging the buildings according to types and inner planning, as well as photographs, drawings of the facades, and typical schemes of the plans. Special attention is due to tables listing architects and builders active in Gdynia, and offering fundamental information about the people who created the shape of the city and the designs. The presentation of each of the periods in the architecture of Gdynia is supplemented by a catalogue of the more interesting realisations. The catalogues contain descriptions of particular buildings together with the address and precise date, investors, designers and builders, a brief architectural depiction of the facade and interior design as well as a stylistic analysis. Valuable supplements include photographs – contemporary and/or archival – as well as tracings of facade projects and the plans of at least a single storey. Many of the descriptions are accompanied by additional data, provided in brackets and discussing the part played by the given building or its owner in the history of the town. A detailed examination of the development of the Gdynia town house, conducted against a widely drawn background, the variegated contents, and a demonstration of stylistic and typological links with buildings erected at the time in other Polish and European towns, render the discussed book valuable for all those interested in inter-war architecture. Indubitably, closer acquaintanceship with the publication or even a careful glance at the illustrations could prove to be a fascinating adventure for the residents and lovers of Gdynia, and a source of inspiration for researchers specialising in inter-war architecture as well as designers hoping to refer to tradition. It could also convince the reader about the aesthetic and functional merits of architecture which emerged “at the meeting point of two epochs”