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

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. Local helpers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, gazing at its twig-detailed ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance towards a foreign power, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of staying in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered unusual at a period when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been working to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical 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 wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau features, including an irregular shape – with a pointed turret on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to History

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who raze listed buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class apathetic or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the vision for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

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

Loss and Neglect

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 pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, observed 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 asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

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

“It was not foreign rockets that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique ivy-draped 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 crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom 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 occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving 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 persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she admitted. “Restoration is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this history and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first cherish its stones.