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

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its twig-detailed details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We strive to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We’re not afraid of remaining in our homeland. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear paradoxical at a moment when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers board up broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s crumbling 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 embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit analogous art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Dangers to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze listed buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class indifferent or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a different time. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been fallen. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Loss and Neglect

One glaring example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new commercial complex, observed by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green 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 primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It was not external attacks that eliminated 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 continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character ivy-draped house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and original-style railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special 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 some distance away from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Restoration

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she admitted. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of conflict and neglect, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first cherish its stones.