Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she remarked, gazing at its branch-like ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid 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 symbolizes our dedication to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear unusual at a period when missile strikes regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Conflict, a Fight for Beauty

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been working to preserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by display analogous art nouveau features, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Challenges to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body apathetic or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack 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 flatten important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital is reminiscent of a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Demolition and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, 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 levelled old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while fighting in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens 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 that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she conceded. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of destruction and commercial interests, these activists continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first save its stones.