Safeguarding the Capital's Architectural Legacy: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, appreciating its twig-detailed ornamentation. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition against a foreign power, she clarified: “We are trying to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of remaining in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy could be considered unusual at a moment when drone attacks regularly target the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers board up broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for Beauty

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was initially the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase comparable art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Dangers to Legacy

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body apathetic or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Demolition and Disregard

One egregious demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, diggers demolished it. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable champions of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s wealthy business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered 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 red door 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 cherish the past? “Regrettably 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 not yet close from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons roosted among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first save its history.