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

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, admiring its branch-like features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who celebrated with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of an invading force, she explained: “We are trying to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of staying in Ukraine. I had the option to depart, starting anew to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered unusual at a moment when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers board up broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been working to save 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 originally the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity showcase comparable art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area features two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Threats to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class apathetic or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, 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 decline of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Demolition and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new commercial complex, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not external attacks 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 not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique ivy-draped house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles 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 continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its broken windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this history and splendour.”

In the face of conflict and neglect, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first cherish its walls.