Preserving the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations in the Shadow of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Local helpers had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, appreciating its tree limb-inspired details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an expression of defiance towards a foreign power, she clarified: “We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of staying in our country. I had the option to depart, moving away to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear paradoxical at a time when missile strikes regularly target the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each attack, workers board up broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for Beauty

Amid the bombs, a band of activists has been attempting 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 erected in 1906 and was originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display comparable art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a medieval spire 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 demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down protected buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body apathetic or hostile to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital is reminiscent of a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Demolition and Disregard

One glaring demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had pledged to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, monitored 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 destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were initially 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique ivy-draped house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect 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? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to go to the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of conflict and commercial interests, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s identity, you must first protect its stones.