A city in a block of flats. Reportage by students of Journalism and Social Communication UG

On April 21, the premiere of the radio reportage and photo essay 'A city in a block of flats' will take place. - a journalistic project telling the stories of residents and supporters of falowce. - 'Stories we have heard and some kind of magic that falowce simply have, prompted us to take action. Talking to people who lived in falowiec convinced us that we would find really valuable stories there. We met people who told us about what falowiec used to be like and how it has changed over the years.'

The radio report A City in a Block of Flats is the result of a Bachelor's project by Liwia Zaborska and Kacper Anaczkowski, students of Journalism and Social Communication at the University of Gdańsk, under the supervision of dr Konrad Konch.

- 'The idea of the project was born over a year ago in a small café. As part of our bachelor's thesis, we wanted to create and show something extraordinary. We had our heads full of ideas, but we decided to talk about a place that had seemed fascinating in its own way for some time. Gdańsk's falowce. Seven "small towns" of Przymorze are full of memories, complaints, praises and absurdities. We wanted to talk about them. The idea of radio reportage and photojournalism seemed to us the best way to show these stories. The effects of more than a year of work on the project, you will soon be able to hear and see,' - said Liwia Zaborska and Kacper Anaczkowski about the idea for the project.

The premiere of the reportage will take place on Wednesday, April 21 at 6 p.m. via the MS Teams platform and the official Facebook event. The official premiere will be followed by a discussion with Magdalena Grzebałkowska (journalist, former resident of the city of Wałbrzych) and prof. Jacek Friedrich (from the Institute of Art History, University of Gdańsk, Director of the National Museum in Gdańsk), who will comment on and present their reflections on the reportage, as well as answer questions from the audience. The report itself will also be broadcast on Radio MORS at 6 p.m.

- 'This housing experiment is an extremely interesting and inspiring topic for journalists. The stories we have heard and the magic that is simply there in falowce have prompted us to take action. Talking to people who had lived in falowiec convinced us that we would find really valuable stories there. We met people who told us about what falowiec used to be like and how it has changed over the years. We were interested in their neighbourhood relations, their childhood, school years, good and bad memories. Together with the residents, we created an image of falowiec that so far no one knew. We want this image to become more widespread and clearer and not let others forget about it. We also asked our protagonists what falowiec is like today, more than 50 years after the first concrete blocks were built in Przymorze,' explain the project's creators. - 'We want our activities to contribute to raising awareness, deepening knowledge about the history of falowce and their community. As students from Pomerania, we want these stories to be heard. Our project is a unique opportunity to get to know the history of Gdańsk's falowce, which is quite different from the one known from urban legends,' they add.

Julia Bereszczyńska/Press Office of University of Gdańsk