Protecting Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its tree limb-inspired features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance against a foreign power, she explained: “We strive to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of living in our country. I had the option to depart, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance shows our dedication to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s built legacy seems unusual at a period when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Campaign for History

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by showcase analogous art nouveau elements, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire 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 demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who raze protected buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body indifferent or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the vision 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 defended older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been fallen. The ongoing conflict meant that everyone was facing monetary strain, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he remarked.

Destruction and Disregard

One egregious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. Shortly following the full-scale invasion, diggers tore it down. 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 faint chance for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could facilitate official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their authentic doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not cherish 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. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons nested among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she admitted. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this history and splendour.”

In the face of conflict and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to save a city’s identity, you must first save its walls.