Preserving Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself in the Shadow of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she remarked, admiring its branch-like ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an expression of resistance in the face of a neighboring state, she clarified: “We are trying to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of staying 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 ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear strange at a time when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers cover broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Campaign for Identity

In the midst of war, a collective of activists has been striving to save the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity showcase comparable art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a projection on the other. One popular house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Several Threats to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership apathetic or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing 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 concept for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Demolition and Neglect

One egregious demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance 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, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and original-style 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 tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not appreciate the past? “Unfortunately they do not have 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 such cultural awareness,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “This activity is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this history and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, stating that to save a city’s soul, you must first cherish its stones.