Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations in the Shadow of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its branch-like ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who commemorated the work with several neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance towards an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of staying in Ukraine. I had the option to depart, starting anew to Italy. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a period when missile strikes regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Conflict, a Fight for Identity

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been working to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit comparable art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze protected buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body indifferent or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing 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 flatten important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come 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 lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, 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 decline of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Loss and Neglect

One notorious demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched 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 demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could facilitate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing 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 also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric 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 trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still not yet close from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience 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 shattered windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she conceded. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of war and commercial interests, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, stating that to rebuild a city’s heart, you must first save its history.