Protecting the Capital's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its tree limb-inspired details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance towards a foreign power, she explained: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of living in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear unusual at a moment when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been attempting to conserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by showcase similar art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area displays two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Challenges to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a administrative body apathetic or opposed to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack real 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 bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Loss and Neglect

One glaring example of destruction is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a stern security guard.

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

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate the past? “Regrettably 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 a way off from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first save its history.