Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. Volunteers had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, appreciating its twig-detailed features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an expression of opposition towards an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way. We’re not afraid of staying in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings seems paradoxical at a period when drone attacks frequently hit the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Fight for History

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display comparable art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Several Challenges to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class unconcerned or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents 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 alleged the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once defended older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he argued.

Destruction 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 acquired the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, excavators demolished it. 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 not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned 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 continuing his important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful vine-clad house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves 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 don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Regrettably they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this past and beauty.”

In the face of war and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first save its walls.