Protecting the Capital's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Local helpers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a peacock,” she commented, appreciating its branch-like features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition against an invading force, she clarified: “We strive to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of staying in our country. I could have left, relocating to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered strange at a period when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Battle for History

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been working to save the city’s crumbling 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 first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce 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 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 devil.

Several Dangers to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body indifferent or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the vision for the capital is reminiscent of a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see deterioration of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Demolition and Abandonment

One egregious location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was fell in 2022 while fighting in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful creeper-covered house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

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

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Unfortunately 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 some distance away from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of war and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one facade at a time, believing that to save a city’s identity, you must first cherish its stones.