Preserving Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a peacock,” she stated, admiring its twig-detailed features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance towards a neighboring state, she explained: “We strive to live like everyday people in spite 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, starting anew to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered strange at a period when drone attacks regularly target the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for Identity

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase comparable art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Dual Challenges to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish protected buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership apathetic or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been fallen. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Demolition and Disregard

One notorious location of loss is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the full-scale invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A former political system also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was fell in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. 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 constructed for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct 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 little will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not cherish the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a form of healing 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 facade at a time, believing that to rebuild a city’s heart, you must first save its history.