Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, gazing at its twig-detailed ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with several neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance in the face of a foreign power, she explained: “We strive to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of remaining in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to another European nation. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear strange at a time when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each assault, workers board up broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Conflict, a Campaign for Identity

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been attempting to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit analogous art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Dual Dangers to Legacy

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who raze listed buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class unconcerned or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing real 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 added that the concept for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Loss and Abandonment

One glaring location of loss is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect 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 locals not cherish the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons nested among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of war and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first save its walls.