Safeguarding the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peacock,” she stated, gazing at its branch-like features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of an invading force, she clarified: “We strive to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of staying in our country. I had the option to depart, starting anew to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy seems unusual at a time when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers cover shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Battle for Beauty

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been striving 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 affluent fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit similar 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 devil.

Multiple Challenges to Legacy

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

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been fallen. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Loss and Neglect

One notorious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, excavators tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could facilitate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character ivy-draped 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 red door and original-style 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 tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate the past? “Regrettably 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 that standard,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking remained, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she admitted. “This activity is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first cherish its history.