Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. Volunteers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, gazing at its tree limb-inspired details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an expression of opposition towards a neighboring state, she explained: “Our aim is to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of staying in our homeland. I could have left, moving away to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance 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 historic buildings may appear strange at a time when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each attack, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Battle for Beauty

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been working to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Dual Challenges to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish protected buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class unconcerned or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Demolition and Disregard

One notorious demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought 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 advocates of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not value the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still not yet close from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to save a city’s identity, you must first protect its stones.