Preserving Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a peacock,” she remarked, admiring its twig-detailed features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance towards a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of staying in Ukraine. I could have left, moving away to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered strange at a period when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each strike, workers cover broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful 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 affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce today,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by showcase comparable art nouveau characteristics, including an irregular shape – with a gothic tower on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Several Dangers to Legacy

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

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the vision for the capital is reminiscent of a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Disregard

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 charming brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most notable champions 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 carrying on his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors survived, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. 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 vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend 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 citizens not value the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she conceded. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are striving to save all this past and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s identity, you must first save its stones.