Safeguarding the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its twig-detailed ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of living in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear unusual at a time when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each strike, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been attempting to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful 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 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 uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby display similar art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area features two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Threats to Legacy

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a governing class apathetic or hostile to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Abandonment

One egregious demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

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

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their authentic doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful 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 historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not cherish 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 such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are crumbling because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this past 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 soul, you must first cherish its stones.