Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself Amidst the Onslaught 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 “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she stated, gazing at its branch-like details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance against a neighboring state, she explained: “We strive to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of remaining in our country. I could have left, starting anew to another European nation. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a time when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each strike, workers cover broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Battle for Identity

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been working to preserve the city’s deteriorating 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 first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who raze listed buildings, unethical officials and a governing class unconcerned or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and public institutions,” he contended.

Loss and Abandonment

One egregious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was killed in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that got rid of them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character ivy-draped house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates 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 last 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 citizens not appreciate the past? “Regrettably they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still not yet close from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she admitted. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of war and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first cherish its walls.