Protecting the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a whimsical nod to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she remarked, admiring its twig-detailed details. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an expression of resistance against a neighboring state, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of living in our country. I had the option to depart, starting anew to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings seems unusual at a period when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers cover broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Campaign for Identity

Amid the bombs, a band of activists has been working to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was initially the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon in the present day,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase similar art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Several Dangers to Legacy

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

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come 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 killed. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see deterioration of our society and public institutions,” he contended.

Demolition and Disregard

One notorious demolition site 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 picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new shopping and business centre, monitored by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while fighting in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which functions 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 continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little 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 value the past? “Unfortunately they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still some distance away from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we don’t win,” she admitted. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are attempting to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, stating that to save a city’s identity, you must first cherish its walls.