The structure has retained the same function from its inception to the present day.

History

The Market Hall Complex in Gdynia was designed by famous architects Jerzy Mueller and Stefan Reychman and built in 1937. The design was successfully implemented by Zjednoczenie Hut - Królewskiej i Laury [Association of the Royal and Laura Steelworks], Zarząd Warsztatów Górnośląskich [Upper Silesian Workshop Authority], Towarzystwo Akcyjne Katowice [Katowice Auction Society].

Description

The complex is located in the city centre, in the quarter between Wójta Radtkego Street (former Migały Street) to the east, Jana z Kolna Street to the west, 3-go Maja Street to the north, and the plot of the court building (Konstytucji Square and Jan z Kolna Streee) to the south The main hall is asymmetrical and fragmented. The main body was extended by a wing on a floor plan approximating the shape of the letter “L”, which was added at a right angle.

The main hall is tall and features a distinctive parabolic cross-section. The structure is composed of nine huge trusses (spaced at 10 m; span: 35 m), whose layout is visible from the outside and from the inside. The structure is faced with bricks and plastered on the outside; in the lower sections the trusses are anchored using the system of walls forming the side rooms of the hall. The covering was installed on a metal framework and mostly glazed. Similarly, both shorter parabolic ends of the main body were glazed. The glass surfaces of these façades were partitioned by reinforced concrete pillars. The outermost truss is faced with brick and plastered, which gives the effect of a parabolic frame of the glazed front façade.

The side wing is low and was erected on a rectangular floor plan. It is a frame structure filled with thin walls at the bottom and a row of windows at the top.

The fish hall is small compared to the main hall, both in terms of its contour and cubature. It is located on the extension of the wing of the main hall towards the north-west. The hall is devoid of annexes, and in terms of the structure, it was designed similarly to the wing of the main hall (frame structure with masonry infills and window openings). Additionally, the market hall complex compositionally connects the motif of a 1.5-metre-tall plinth to the motif of clinker cladding (dark red) as well as the unloading ramps with door recesses from the side of 3 Maja Street, Jana z Kolna Street, and the market square. The original floors and window and door joinery have been preserved.

The monument is open to visitors.

compiled by Dorota Hryszkiewicz-Kahlau, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 29-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Sołtysik M.J., Gdynia miasto dwudziestolecia międzywojennego, urbanistyka i architektura, Warszawa 1993;
• Sołtysik M.J., Modernistyczna Gdynia - dziedzictwo lat międzywojennych, [w:] Renowacje i zabytki 2010, nr 4 (36), s.60-73;
• Małgorzata Omilanowska, Świątynie handlu, Warszawa, 2004 r.
• Architektura i Budownictwo nr 4/5, s. 154-157, 1938 r.
• Sołtysik M.J., Studium architektoniczno-urbanistyczne waloryzacji Gdyni do roku 1939 w granicach administracyjnych miasta z roku 1970 , część II., osadnictwo przedmiejskie i miasto, t.2. Waloryzacja Śródmieścia, Gdańsk, 1986; maszynopis w archiwum NID O.T. Gdańsk;
• http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miejska_Hala_Targowa
• http://www.haletargowegdynia.pl/architektura.html