Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Local helpers had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she remarked, appreciating its twig-detailed features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of staying in Ukraine. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each assault, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Fight for Identity

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s decaying 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 wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The residence was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by exhibit similar art nouveau characteristics, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Dual Threats to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish listed buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership unconcerned or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was friends with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them 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 lost. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Demolition and Abandonment

One egregious demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, excavators tore it down. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new commercial complex, observed by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while stating they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could last 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 vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and authentic 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 resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Unfortunately 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 that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and beauty.”

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