Visit of WAPG scientists to the UNESCO headquarters | The Faculty of Architecture at the Gdańsk University of Technology

The work of researchers from the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk University of Technology may determine whether the Modernist City Centre of Gdynia will be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

On 20 November 2025, a meeting concerning the nomination of the Modernist City Centre of Gdynia for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Only 17 cultural and natural heritage sites from Poland are currently included on this prestigious list, and Gdynia’s city centre has the potential to become the next Polish site.

The nomination was submitted in 2013 by a representative of the Polish government, and since then it has undergone a thorough evaluation and verification process.

From the outset, researchers from the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk University of Technology have played a key substantive role in the preparation of the nomination. For many years, they have been conducting research and working to preserve Gdynia’s interwar modernist architecture. The team includes Prof. Maria J. Sołtysik, Associate Professor Robert Hirsch, and Dr. Anna Orchowska, all from the Department of Architectural History and Heritage Conservation.

The Polish delegation participating in the Paris meeting included, among others, Robert Hirsch from the Faculty of Architecture of Gdańsk Tech, Gdynia’s Deputy Mayor Oktawia Gorzeńska, and Mariusz Lewicki, Permanent Representative of Poland to UNESCO. The meeting, chaired by Alessandro Balsamo, Director of the Nominations Unit at the World Heritage Centre, was also attended by specialists from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and international experts from ICOMOS.

A decision regarding the inscription of the Gdynia City Centre on the World Heritage List is expected in July 2026.