Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Volunteers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a whimsical nod to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, gazing at its branch-like features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition towards a neighboring state, she explained: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of living in our homeland. I had the option to depart, starting anew to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings seems strange at a moment when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each strike, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Campaign for Beauty

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been working to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by display analogous art nouveau features, including an irregular shape – with a pointed turret on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area features two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Challenges to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a governing class unconcerned or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the plan for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Abandonment

One glaring demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated 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 blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

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

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate the past? “Sadly they lack 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 that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart 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 broken windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Often we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “Restoration is a coping mechanism for us. We are striving to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to rebuild a city’s identity, you must first protect its stones.