Safeguarding the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, appreciating its tree limb-inspired ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who commemorated the work with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance against a neighboring state, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of staying in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, starting anew to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered strange at a time when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers cover broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Conflict, a Fight for Identity

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been working to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display similar art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a small tower on the other. One much-loved house in the area displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body apathetic or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have real 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 bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Disregard

One notorious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while stating they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still not yet close from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this past and splendour.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first save its history.