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

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peacock,” she commented, appreciating its tree limb-inspired features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition against a neighboring state, she explained: “We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of living in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, starting anew to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our dedication to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered paradoxical at a moment when drone attacks regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each attack, workers board up shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Battle for History

In the midst of war, a collective of activists has been striving to save the city’s decaying mansions, built in a distinctive 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 facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby display analogous art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to History

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down protected buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership indifferent or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes 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 claimed the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens 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 goes on the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Loss and Abandonment

One egregious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, excavators 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 little optimism for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent advocates of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while serving in the frontline. 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 erected for the city’s prosperous industrialists. 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 fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered 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 crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect 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 citizens not appreciate the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she conceded. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to rebuild a city’s heart, you must first save its walls.