Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. Local helpers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a whimsical nod to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she stated, appreciating its branch-like details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance towards a foreign power, she clarified: “We strive to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of remaining in our country. I had the option to depart, moving away 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 everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered unusual at a period when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Campaign for Beauty

Amid the bombs, a band of activists has been working to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area features two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Dangers to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down protected buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class indifferent or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan 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 community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, diggers demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could allow for military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was killed in 2022 while fighting in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility 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 “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not value the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its shattered windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this past and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to save a city’s heart, you must first save its walls.