Preserving the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her recently completed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “crescent roll”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she stated, gazing at its twig-detailed ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an expression of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she explained: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of living in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to another European nation. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy seems paradoxical at a period when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Battle for Identity

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been attempting to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down protected buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body apathetic or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Destruction and Abandonment

One notorious demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character 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 vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect 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 value the past? “Unfortunately they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons roosted among its shattered windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are trying to save all this past and splendour.”

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