Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its tree limb-inspired ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance towards an invading force, she clarified: “We strive to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of staying in our country. I could have left, starting anew to another European nation. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a period when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each assault, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for Beauty

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been working to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby display similar art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Dangers to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class unconcerned or hostile to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come 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 ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see deterioration of our society and public institutions,” he argued.

Demolition and Abandonment

One glaring demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, monitored by a stern 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 asserting they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that got rid of them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad 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 red door 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 not a thing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not appreciate the past? “Sadly they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to move towards the west. But we are still not yet close from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking remained, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to save a city’s heart, you must first cherish its stones.