Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, admiring its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems strange at a period when drone attacks routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers board up broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Battle for History

Amid the bombs, a band of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce today,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase similar art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership apathetic or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Loss and Neglect

One notorious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed 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 asserting they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could facilitate official processions.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. 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 built for the city’s wealthy business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing 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 operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not cherish the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still not yet close from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she admitted. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and beauty.”

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