We have no problem with the fact that entertainment activities will become a smaller and smaller part of our DNA. The key for us is to build the diversity of functions of the 100czni space, which is already becoming a small neighborhood, a "city within a city," say the creators of 100czni, which operates on post-shipyard land in Gdansk, combining container architecture, an art program and gastronomy.
Ewa Karendys: Do you also have concerns that a district of rental apartments is being built in the Young City?
Alicja Jablonowska, creator of 100czni and vice chairman of the Young City and Polish Hook Stakeholder Council: -According to our observations, about 70 percent of the apartments that have been created in the post shipyard areas are used for short-term rentals. From the point of view of city-forming processes and building a neighborhood community, this is the worst possible scenario. This is a problem we see, architects and urban planners, city representatives see it, and I think some of the developers are beginning to notice it as well. Limiting short-term rentals in these areas is one of the demands of the group "Shipyard District" - an association of artists, architects, activists and cultural people active in the shipyard areas, which I initiated. The target idea is to create a new administrative district of Gdansk and reduce the planning chaos that results from the highly dispersed ownership structure in this part of Gdansk.
At the last meeting of the Council of Stakeholders of the Young City and Polski Haka, Deputy Mayor of Gdansk Piotr Grzelak said that today there are no residents of the Young City, there are instead its residents. And this, in the context of the demand for the creation of a new district, is quite a problem.
Kuba Lukaszewski, creator of 100czni: It's not that there are no residents in the post-shipyard areas at all. Two groups meet in the Young Town - residents who have been here for a very long time, living in tenement houses on Robotnicza and Jaracza streets, remembering the times when this space still had industrial functions. On the other hand, we have new apartment construction, young and rather affluent people who are looking for attractive locations for themselves and their families. Importantly, both groups have similar needs and demands - such as the provision of essential services in the vicinity of their apartments.
During the summer, daytime activities include workshops, fairs, author meetings, yoga classes
Monika Krzeminska
And where is the role of 100czni in all this? You have succeeded in revitalizing the post-shipyard area, but isn't there a risk that entertainment activities will, over time, disturb the landowners, the investors?
Kuba Lukaszewski: We are fortunate that we operate on the grounds of the Shipyard Centrum Gdansk (SCG), which is one of the owners of the plots of land in the Young City. Our relationship has been good from the beginning, if only because SCG trusted us with the creation of our rather crazy project at a time when the land was still wasteland. 100cznia is developing all the time, and we discuss the directions of this development intensively with the owners of the land and buildings around us. We consult with each other on our plans, and often even support each other in their implementation - so we have no fear that this cooperation will suddenly end.
So far, 100cznia has been associated with seasonal, outdoor activities, but you are planning a partial relocation to the shipyard halls.
Kuba Lukaszewski: We know that we are primarily associated with entertainment, but from the very beginning we have been involved in social activities, those related to sustainable development, art, education, immigrant communities or minorities. These are topics that are very close to our hearts, and we have no problem with entertainment activities becoming a smaller and smaller part of our DNA. The key for us is to build the diversity of functions of the 100 Yard space, which is already becoming a small neighborhood, as we say "a city within a city."
Summer outdoor cinema at 100czni
Monika Krzeminska
We are currently working with SCG to renovate two post shipyard halls in which we will operate year-round. The first of the renovated facilities is hall 31B. The building belongs to SCG, while the whole concept - both of the functions, the partners involved in the project and the architectural development - comes from us. This is one example of our cooperation, as SCG is responsible for executing our idea and committing its resources and experience here. This project is underway,we plan to open the hall as early as this summer. The second space is still in the planning stage, but it's also a historic hall on our grounds, to which we want to move some of the container life and build a year-round space, combining gastronomy, art, music, sports events.
Alicja Jablonowska: Hall 31B was supposed to be demolished because it is the newest building in the former Schichau shipyard complex. But thanks to the fact that the conservator put the area under protection, and we gave the hall a new function - the building was preserved. This is the building after the former wood drying room, and it once also housed a canteen for lower-level shipyard workers.
Now the hall will become vibrant again?
Alicja Jablonowska: Among other things, we are planning a vegetarian restaurant on the first floor, and the Art Hub, a collaborative space for artists and the creative industry, on the first floor. There will be eleven studios, ranging from architecture, music studio, graphic design, stencil, painting, graffiti and fashion. Artists and artists who are in some way connected to the shipyard areas will move in. In the central area there will be an exhibition, conference and lecture space carrying out the program created by those involved in the Art Hub. The other part of the building will be given over to the Gdańsk Tourist Organization, the city unit responsible for promoting Gdańsk. The entire building is designed using recovered historical elements, such as steel frames of skylights, post-demolition bricks, tiles and wooden floors. Only those elements that could not be replaced with recycled ones, for safety reasons or formal requirements, are new.
In the discussion of the post-shipyard areas, there are often claims that the 100chnia and nightlife will, over time, disturb the residents of the Young City. Such fears are held, among others, by Prof. Jacek Dominiczak, an architect and urban planner at the Academy of Fine Arts, who stresses that we lack a culture of communal functioning, which is perfectly evident in the example of the Downtown, from which more residents are moving out.
Alicja Jablonowska: Of course, we are aware of this problem, by the way, we have been strongly involved in building this very culture since the beginning of our activity. As creators of the 100czni, we are betting on day life, building an offer much broader than that of a bar - whether it be a gastropub, a playground, a basketball court, a skate park, a vegetable garden, yoga classes or an urban art gallery. Noise analyses commissioned by us and carried out in cooperation with the city have shown that the noise from the 100 yards at the height of the nearest tenements is lower than that generated by traffic. Another thing is that there were and are many other projects and premises around us with which we are sometimes lumped together. With most of them, however, we are in constructive dialogue for changes regarding the nuisance of nightlife - if only as part of the team at City Hall that deals with security in the shipyard areas. In the "Shipyard District" group, we pay attention to the social aspects of the expansion of the Young City, we look for spaces for change, and we demand from investors a broader perspective than just the investments they are preparing.
100cznia
Monika Krzemińska
Do investors want to plan together for the Young City as a livable neighborhood? I have the impression that everyone is building for themselves, and the result is just a neighborhood of apartments for rent.
Alicja Jablonowska: Some are more aware, others less. Investors can be divided into those who build and stay, and those who leave the area after completion. Those who stay here have more awareness, they want to influence what will happen in the area.
That's why we want to exert pressure on investors so that every investment, whether it's based on the local development plan or the lex developer act, is more widely consulted at the urban planning, architectural, but also social level. It is known that it is late, the milk has been spilled and many things are already irreversible. But we can influence, for example, what services will be on the first floors of developments, what quality public spaces will be and who will manage them. In the first project implemented under the lex developer law, only a few comments were received, and after we started activating residents - we already have dozens of constructive comments. I believe that we will be able to develop a model thanks to which investors will think not only about their investment, and the city will take on the role of coordinator, tying all investments together and giving them a coherent shape.
100cznia is not just about nightlife entertainment
Monika Krzemińska
