Preserving the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she remarked, admiring its twig-detailed details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition towards a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We strive to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of remaining in our homeland. I could have left, moving away to another European nation. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems strange at a period when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Within the Conflict, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by showcase comparable art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Challenges to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish listed buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body apathetic or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the concept 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 community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now engaged in combat or had been lost. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Demolition and Neglect

One egregious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a stern 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 asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could facilitate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique ivy-draped house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its broken 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 past and beauty.”

In the face of war and neglect, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first protect its stones.