Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Rebuilding Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, appreciating its twig-detailed details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance in the face of an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our country. I could have left, moving away to Italy. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings seems paradoxical at a time when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers cover broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been working to save the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical 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 affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display analogous art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Dangers to Legacy

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish protected buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body unconcerned or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come 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 fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Neglect

One egregious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a stern 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 asserting they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, 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 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful industrialists. Only 80 of their authentic doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered 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 vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not cherish the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking remained, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

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