Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Rebuilding Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she remarked, appreciating its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition against a foreign power, she explained: “We strive to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of living in our country. I could have left, starting anew to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a moment when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers seal broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Battle for Beauty

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been working to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was initially the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display similar art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Dangers to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body unconcerned or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and public institutions,” he argued.

Destruction and Abandonment

One glaring demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Regrettably they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to go to the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of conflict and commercial interests, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, stating that to save a city’s identity, you must first protect its walls.