Protecting Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her recently completed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a whimsical nod to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, gazing at its branch-like ornamentation. 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 opposition against a foreign power, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of staying in our homeland. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear unusual at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, offensive operations have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers seal broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Battle for History

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been attempting 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 constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by showcase analogous art nouveau characteristics, 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 features two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Dual Dangers to Legacy

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

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

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Destruction and Disregard

One notorious example of destruction is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, monitored by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while stating they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard 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 lost his life in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered 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 red door and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing 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 cherish the past? “Regrettably they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking remained, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Often we don’t win,” she admitted. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first cherish its walls.