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

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, admiring its branch-like features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition in the face of an invading force, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of remaining in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, moving away to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings seems unusual at a time when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Campaign for History

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central 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.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display comparable art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Dual Dangers to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish protected buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership indifferent or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been fallen. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Abandonment

One glaring location of loss is in the waterside 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. Shortly following the full-scale invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

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

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while serving in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing 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 also serves 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 last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not cherish the past? “Regrettably 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 not yet close from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first protect its stones.