Preserving the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. Local helpers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she commented, admiring its branch-like ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition against a foreign power, she explained: “We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way. We’re not afraid of staying in Ukraine. I had the option to depart, moving away to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered paradoxical at a period when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers board up broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been working to save the city’s decaying mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by showcase similar art nouveau elements, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire on one side and a turret 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 Threats to Legacy

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish protected buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body apathetic or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. 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 engaged in combat or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Neglect

One glaring location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, 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 little will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

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

Therapy in Restoration

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its broken windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we don’t win,” she conceded. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first cherish its stones.