true and false
Yes, I want to admire the original 100-year-old tea-scented hull of the Cutty Sark clipper ship. No, I'm not interested in the replica of the Golden Hind, Francis Drake's 16th-century galleon, standing in the same city. That's why we are seduced by the phenomenon of the unmade Egyptian mummies, and bend our knees before the majesty of the real hull of the Vasa galleon in Stockholm. And when visiting Istanbul's Hagia Sophia or old Jerusalem, the genius loci, the soul of a place, its atmosphere can be felt as strongly as a meteopath would react to a sudden change in pressure.
This makes me understand why millions of people from all over the world want to admire the original buildings of Krakow with Kazimierz and Podgórze. To touch the real walls that they remember. And I understand that Warsaw's Old Town, a replica of the past, won't appeal to me that way. A demolished city should try an adventure with its history, but it should do it by teasing it, through architecture that has an opinion of its own. Through architecture that tells the truth, not tries to deceive us. That's how it came to be... the New Old Town, one of a kind.
However, the rebuilding of Elblag went very slowly - without special government support, such projects have little chance, and the city itself could not afford it. And - as further history has shown - it was very good that it all turned out this way.
The retroversion invented in Elblag - the author of the concept is Maria Lubocka-Hoffmann, for many years the Provincial Conservator of Monuments in Elblag (Elblag was then a provincial city) - was also observed by other cities. The first attempts to implement this idea grew on the foundations of demolished tenement houses in Olsztyn and Glogow, among others. The aesthetic effects of these works, carried out mainly in the 1980s and 1990s, are, according to many of their observers, to put it mildly, not very successful.
Tastes are said not to be discussed - but I personally believe that, yes, one can and even should. The peculiarities of the times, with their kitsch, the shoddiness of the available building materials, the pioneering of the idea of retroversion and various other factors, have caused these reconstructions to be called by many a failed, eccentric experiment. I would debate. It's certainly better than the big slab. Besides, retroversy is unequal to retroversy.
When Glogow was putting up its new-old tenements - in my opinion, it succeeded because it was a wealthier city at the time (perhaps thanks to the local copper smelter?) - Elblag continued to ponder. Tentatively, single tenements were being built there, realized by private investors. When in Glogow whole quarters of rebuilt tenements were already standing, in Elblag the process was just beginning. Fortunately for Elblag.
Old Market Street 54-59 toward the Market Gate at the corner with Bednarska Street
Photo: Adrian Sajko
Nówka-Starówka
The controversy was gaining momentum for years, until the 21st century arrived. Private investors erected more tenements, the discussion of their aesthetic value continued, the city community became accustomed to the new, unique common space. Time and again, media reports and opinions on the Elblag (and other) retroversy appeared. Often critical or malicious. In my opinion, wrongly.
Difficult fates of cities do not deserve derision, but reflection, reflection, drawing conclusions. Retroversion is not a bad idea in itself, but the key to success is, as usual, the maturity of the idea and the quality of the design and its execution.
And therein lies the happiness in Elblag's misfortune. The gray, drab and dreary 1980s are gone. The kitschy 1990s are gone, leaving behind memories of the colorful explosion of the free market, the makeshift and chaotic, architectural drones. The present day has arrived. And all the time, step by step, Elblag made its way. Until the New Old Town, which is nearing completion today, came into being. True, it consists of many not-so-successful tenements, some even very much so. But many realizations, especially the newest ones, are great! There are buildings that are interesting, intriguing, simply pretty. But above all, there is an urban layout, some unique style. There is something about Elblag's neat, friendly, awakening to life Nowa-Starówka. It oozes the Hanseatic character of the city. It is liked by residents. It pleases visitors. It provokes thought. It is something. She is unique. Beautiful.
One feels the past in this architecture. Reworked, colorful, multifaceted: history. Each facade is one of the many faces of Elblag. These faces are extremely diverse, nothing is repeated here. And that's what I understand! It's impossible to tour a large-panel housing development like this, and it doesn't make much sense to walk through a modern, mediocre developer housing development, put together from similar blocks and repeating segments. But it's quite different in Elblag's New Old Town.
When I returned to my hometown in 2019 to write a strategy (or rather, a brand study) for it, I was delighted to discover a very different city than the one I remembered from my youth. Walking through the New York Old Town was extraordinary. I saw the city anew. I saw messy developments, quite successful in places, but together they create a space in which one can feel good, which has a unique character. It is real, not pretended. The city has avoided the sin of haste.
The New Old Town Elbląg should be proud of. The great undertaking has been realized - almost to the end - by the hands of the residents.
close-up on a detail of an Art Nouveau tenement on Rybacka Street
photo: © Zakład Usług Budowlanych "MYTYCH"
beautiful and young this reconstruction
As I strolled around the New Old Town with the head of Elblag's contemporary art center, EL Gallery, I saw the ever-changing city. I liked it very much. A lot is still ahead of Elblag - there is still Granary Island to be rebuilt, several quarters of tenement houses, including the last frontage on the Elblag River, I think crucial to the final outcome, hopefully a great success for the city. Lying on the river, the pre-war Fishmarkt looked like... Copenhagen. And that's how it will look - in its own way, retrospectively, someday, in the hopefully not too distant future.
Among other things, a modern BPO center is planned on Granary Island, referring to the architecture of the old granaries. My dream is to see the Elblag River revitalized by the sea again, with colorful fishing boats, yachts, and ships moored along the wharves of Nówka-Starówka. The first of the water changes has already begun: the Water Group's stall.
I dream of a port-like Nówka-Starówka with a fish market on the waterfront, sea food pubs, live music, and gardens where you can drink the cult Elblag Specjal beer. I wrote down all these dreams in a brand study, in a decade we'll see what came of it. My bet is that it will be good: after years of misery, Elblag is back in the game. Controversial for many, the Vistula Spit dredging will make Elbląg a port city again. And port cities are great, more happens in them. Maritime cities have a peculiar, very sexy character. Also those that have the Golden Age long behind them, like Bruges or Antwerp. We've named the walk in the New Old Town ARCHI-TEC-TOUR to provoke a conscious aesthetic-architectural walk. It is worth going to Elblag to walk from the Elblag Museum, past the library, the cathedral, along the church street, to the Market Gate, to visit the EL Gallery, and finally to have a beer over the bridge, on Granary Island, looking at this beautiful city from the perspective of the Water Group stand. I place the beginning of this walk in the museum not by accident, as it houses an interesting "side effect" of the Elblag retroversy. Before permission is granted for the construction of a retroversial building, the site must be thoroughly searched by archaeologists. And so Elblag, somewhat unintentionally, has become one of the largest archaeological sites in the world. Thousands of unearthed relics form a remarkable collection, part of which is housed in the Elblag museum. Together with finds from nearby Truso, an early medieval Viking trading settlement, they form an exhibition that is extremely rich in historical rarities.
Another undoubted attraction of the Elblag aesthetic-architectural walk will be a visit to the EL Gallery. Placing a center for contemporary art inside a medieval former church has a spectacular effect, which is a good commentary on the idea of retroversion. It all adds up to the distinct character of a city that talks about its past in an interesting way and is not afraid of the future.
While walking around, it's worth taking a look at the city hall, which has been rebuilt, obviously in the spirit of retroversion. In the lobby stands an impressive model of medieval Elblag - juxtaposed with what we will see during the walk, we will have a full picture of the phenomenon of this city.
The turbulent history of Elblag is clearly heading in the right direction. It is worth seeing with your own eyes.
Matthew WASHINGTON
The case of Elblag and the retroversy was discussed at the international congress Regeneration of Industrial Cities, held at EC1 in Lodz and on a special online platform on June 22-23. The congress is a joint initiative of the City of Lodz and the Open Eyes Economy movement. Mateusz Zmyślony's conversation with Adriana Ronżewska-Kotyńska - director of the EL Gallery Art Center - titled "The controversy on the example of El. "Retroversy on the example of Elblag" took place on June 22 as part of a special session.
