Między klasyką a awangardą. Szpital Morski na Oksywiu projektu Mariana Lalewicza

Abstract

Between the classic and the avant‑garde. The Maritime Hospital in Oksywie designed by Marian Lalewicz The aim of the article is to present the architectural legacy of the Maritime Hospital in Gdynia, a military investment from the early 1930s, which was created in the office of a significant and renowned architect, Marian Lalewicz. A distinguished designer, representative of academic classicism, he had in his portfolio, among others, several buildings in Gdynia so crucial for the Polish Navy. In 1930 he accepted an extraordinary challenge which was to build a military hospital of a wide spectrum of operations. It was to be the answer to the demands of the growing personnel and their families while at the same time constituting a form of medical security for the naval port. The project, realised as the first modern hospital building in the developing port city, was modernistic and exceptionally functional. It was presented at an opinion‑forming national exhibition and in professional magazines, as it complimented the most important proposals in terms of construction and inventory of hospitals, taking into consideration the influence of nature on treatment and comfort quality improvement of patients. Generally, the hospital comprised two wards: surgical and internal diseases, with additional infectious diseases subdivision. Also, a dental clinic operated there, perhaps also a venereal clinic, an operating theatre, an X‑ray facility, physiotherapy surgery, a laboratory, a pharmacy, a dissection room and a mortuary. From the ground floor of the building there was an easy access to a terrace as well as to verandas, which were duplicated on the first floor. The loggias on two of the storeys were also exceptional. A good location of the hospital on a hillside, strong insolation and the fresh sea air were all elements of the processes of treatment and convalescence. The facility was manned with mixed personnel, both civilian and military. The text broadly describes the architectural values of the structure, spatial arrangement and facade composition adjoining the function it served and juxtaposed with similar European realisations. Also, the architectural detail is brought to attention, both in the layer of the facade as in the interior of the building, which have been destroyed in the last few years due to renovations. Opened in the spring of 1932, the building served its function until the outbreak of World War II and has remained a medical facility until today – currently it serves as a medical clinic. In itself, it is the proof of the timelessness of the project and its functional arrangement, after nearly 90 years of its completion.