Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she stated, appreciating its tree limb-inspired details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of 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, relocating to another European nation. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a period when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each assault, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Fight for Beauty

Amid the bombs, a band of activists has been working to preserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display similar art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class apathetic or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov stated that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a different time. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Loss and Disregard

One egregious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new commercial complex, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while stating they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad 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 crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not cherish the past? “Sadly 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 not yet close from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and splendour.”

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