Preserving the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, appreciating its tree limb-inspired details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she clarified: “We are trying to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of remaining in Ukraine. I had the option to depart, moving away to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings seems paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers board up broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Campaign for Identity

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been working 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 constructed in 1906 and was initially the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby showcase similar art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Challenges to Legacy

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze protected buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body indifferent or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing 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 destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Destruction and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while stating they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A former political system also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing 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 operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little 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? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still not yet close from such cultural awareness,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its broken windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we don’t win,” she conceded. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this past and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, stating that to save a city’s soul, you must first cherish its walls.