Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, gazing at its tree limb-inspired features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of remaining in our homeland. I had the option to depart, starting anew to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear strange at a time when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, offensive operations have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Fight for Identity

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been attempting to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was initially the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce today,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by showcase similar art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Dangers to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class apathetic or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, 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 state bodies,” he remarked.

Destruction and Disregard

One glaring example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while stating they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life 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 stone mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s wealthy business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Unfortunately they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still not yet close from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to save a city’s heart, you must first cherish its walls.