Preserving the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Rebuilding Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. Local helpers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, appreciating its tree limb-inspired details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she clarified: “We are trying to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a period when missile strikes regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, offensive operations have been significantly intensified. After each attack, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Fight for Beauty

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been striving to conserve 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 originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce today,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit analogous art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Several Challenges to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body indifferent or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov stated 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 fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see deterioration of our society and public institutions,” he contended.

Destruction and Disregard

One egregious demolition site is in the waterside 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. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could facilitate official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles 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 fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still not yet close from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its smashed windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of conflict and commercial interests, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to save a city’s soul, you must first cherish its history.