Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she remarked, gazing at its twig-detailed details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with several neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance against a neighboring state, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of remaining in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s built legacy may appear strange at a period when drone attacks regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each strike, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Campaign for Identity

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s deteriorating 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 exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko stated. The mansion 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 projection on the other. One popular house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze protected buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body unconcerned or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once defended older properties were now engaged in combat or had been lost. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing monetary strain, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Destruction and Neglect

One egregious location of loss is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, observed by a unfriendly 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 asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built 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 said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered 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 authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little 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 appreciate the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “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 development pressures, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, believing that to save a city’s heart, you must first cherish its history.