Join Gary Johnson, who designed our exhibition, for a guided tour.

Admission is free for all visitors.

The identity of the city is partly shaped by its architecture; Gdynia, which was forming the framework for urban life, was founded when a great transition occurred in the global architecture, with consequences resonating up to this day. The Romantic tradition that cherished the past styles was dismissed in order to build the “brave new world” of rationality, hygiene, and technology. The visual mark of the change brought by MODERNISM was the smooth wall with wide windows, all painted white! Hence, the walls of public service buildings in Gdynia, its office buildings, tenements, villas, and apartment blocks were white, or at least light. This is how the myth of “white Gdynia” was born.

The City is Born. Modernism in Gdynia Between the Wars is held under the auspices of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prof. Małgorzata Omilanowska, the Marshal of Pomorskie Voivodeship Mieczysław Struk, and the Mayor of Gdynia Wojciech Szczurek.

The exhibition accompanies the 4th international conference of the series ‘Modernism in Europe – Modernism in Gdynia’ organized by the City of Gdynia.