Preserving the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her recently completed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she remarked, admiring its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who celebrated with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she explained: “We strive to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of living in our homeland. I could have left, moving away to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear strange at a time when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers board up shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Among the Conflict, a Battle for Identity

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been working to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was initially the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon in the present day,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display comparable art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One beloved house in the area features two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership apathetic or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack genuine 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 bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The ongoing conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Demolition and Disregard

One notorious example of destruction is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could facilitate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect 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 functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend 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 residents not appreciate the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are attempting to save all this history and splendour.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to save a city’s heart, you must first protect its stones.