Preserving the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she stated, appreciating its tree limb-inspired 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 neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition against an invading force, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of staying in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, moving away to Italy. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings seems strange at a time when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Fight for History

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been working to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was originally the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon in the present day,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display analogous art nouveau elements, including an irregular shape – with a pointed turret on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze protected buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership indifferent or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he contended.

Loss and Abandonment

One glaring location of loss is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug 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 turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while stating they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

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

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Regrettably they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still not yet close from that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we don’t win,” she admitted. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and commercial interests, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first protect its history.