Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, admiring its branch-like features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an expression of defiance in the face of a foreign power, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of living in our country. I had the option to depart, moving away to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear unusual at a moment when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been working to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was initially the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by display comparable art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to History

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body unconcerned or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Disregard

One egregious location of loss is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, observed 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 destroyed old properties while asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while fighting 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 constructed for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful vine-clad house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this history and beauty.”

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