Preserving Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. Local helpers had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, admiring its branch-like ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance towards a foreign power, she clarified: “We are trying to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our country. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy seems paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers board up shattered windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Battle for Beauty

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected 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 structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare in the present day,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit similar art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership indifferent or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor denies 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 ongoing conflict meant that everyone 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 public institutions,” he remarked.

Loss and Abandonment

One glaring example of destruction is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates 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 carrying on his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character ivy-draped house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not cherish the past? “Regrettably they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still not yet close from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she conceded. “Restoration is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and commercial interests, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first protect its walls.