Protecting Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance against an invading force, she explained: “We strive to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of living in our country. I could have left, starting anew to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings seems paradoxical at a time when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each assault, workers cover shattered windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been attempting to save the city’s deteriorating 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 prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

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

Dual Threats to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish listed buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership indifferent or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate adds another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov stated that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Destruction and Neglect

One glaring location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, monitored by a unfriendly 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 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most notable champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, 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 built for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “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 full of character vine-clad 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 vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying 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 unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of war and neglect, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first cherish its history.