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

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she commented, appreciating its branch-like features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who commemorated the work with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our country. I could have left, relocating to Italy. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy could be considered unusual at a period when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers cover broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been striving to save the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko noted. The residence was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit similar art nouveau characteristics, including an irregular shape – with a pointed turret on one side and a turret on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Challenges to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body indifferent or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov stated that the plan for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once defended 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 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 remarked.

Demolition and Disregard

One glaring location of loss is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, monitored by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their authentic doors are still in existence, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing 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 also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not value the past? “Unfortunately they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still not yet close from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s soul, you must first protect its walls.