Protecting the Capital's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Local helpers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, gazing at its tree limb-inspired ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who celebrated with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of living in Ukraine. I could have left, starting anew to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered strange at a time when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each attack, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Campaign for History

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

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase comparable art nouveau features, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire on one side and a small tower on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Dual Threats to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish protected buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body apathetic or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The severe winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack substantive 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 further alleged that the vision for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline 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 degradation of our society and public institutions,” he argued.

Demolition and Abandonment

One notorious location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character ivy-draped house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door 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 “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Regrettably they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its broken windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she admitted. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this history and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s soul, you must first cherish its walls.