Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, gazing at its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance against a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We strive to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of remaining in our country. I could have left, relocating to Italy. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was initially the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce today,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit comparable art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who raze protected buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class unconcerned or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing genuine 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 further alleged that the plan for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Destruction and Neglect

One egregious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new shopping and business centre, 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 “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “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 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 vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect 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 residents not cherish the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this history and splendour.”

In the face of war and neglect, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, believing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first cherish its walls.