Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her recently completed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, appreciating its branch-like features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an expression of opposition towards a foreign power, she explained: “We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of remaining in our country. I had the option to depart, starting anew to Italy. Instead, 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 organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear paradoxical 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 significantly intensified. After each attack, workers seal broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Fight for Identity

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been attempting to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display comparable art nouveau characteristics, 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 displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Threats to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down protected buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership apathetic or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov stated that the vision for the capital harks back to a previous decade. 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 serving in the military or had been lost. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Destruction and Abandonment

One egregious location of loss is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while fighting in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not value the past? “Sadly they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we don’t win,” she conceded. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s soul, you must first save its walls.