Safeguarding the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Itself Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its tree limb-inspired features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance towards a foreign power, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of living in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, moving away 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 regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear paradoxical at a moment when missile strikes regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers board up broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Battle for History

Amid the bombs, a collective 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 erected in 1906 and was first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce today,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by exhibit comparable art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to Legacy

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who raze historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class unconcerned or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate presents another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them 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 killed. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Disregard

One glaring example of destruction is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly 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 asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique ivy-draped house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Regrettably 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 some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she conceded. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this history and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first protect its walls.