Safeguarding the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, gazing at its tree limb-inspired features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she explained: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of living in our homeland. I had the option to depart, relocating to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy could be considered paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for Identity

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been attempting to save the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by showcase similar art nouveau elements, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership unconcerned or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov stated that the vision for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor denies these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, 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 public institutions,” he argued.

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 acquired the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered 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 crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect 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 value the past? “Sadly 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 civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

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