Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, gazing at its tree limb-inspired ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an expression of resistance against a foreign power, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of living in Ukraine. The possibility to emigrate existed, moving away to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear strange at a period when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each assault, workers seal broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit similar art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower 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.

Several Dangers to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down listed buildings, unethical officials and a governing class indifferent or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack 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 civically minded activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Demolition and Abandonment

One notorious demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders 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 persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character ivy-draped 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 crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a period bathroom 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 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 are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Restoration

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; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she conceded. “Restoration is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

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