Protecting Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its twig-detailed features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance against a neighboring state, she clarified: “We are trying to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of staying in Ukraine. I had the option to depart, starting anew to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment 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.”

Protecting Kyiv’s built legacy may appear strange at a time when drone attacks regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each assault, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for Beauty

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s deteriorating 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 originally the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce nowadays,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit similar art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Several Dangers to Legacy

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership apathetic or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Demolition and Abandonment

One notorious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 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 coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable 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 continuing his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that got rid of them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for 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 ivy-draped 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 red door and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate 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 a way off from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to save a city’s soul, you must first protect its history.