Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. Volunteers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, admiring its tree limb-inspired ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of living in our homeland. I had the option to depart, moving away to Italy. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear unusual at a moment when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each assault, workers board up shattered windows with plywood and try, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for History

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful 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 adorned with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase analogous art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower 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.

Several Dangers to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body indifferent or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. 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 flatten important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Loss and Disregard

One notorious location of loss is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered 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 authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not appreciate the past? “Unfortunately they do not have 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 civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she conceded. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of war and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, believing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first save its history.