Safeguarding the Capital's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. Volunteers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a peacock,” she remarked, admiring its twig-detailed features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an expression of defiance in the face of an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of remaining in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our dedication to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy could be considered strange at a period when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been working to preserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was originally the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit similar art nouveau features, 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 demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down listed buildings, unethical officials and a governing class indifferent or hostile to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Loss and Neglect

One egregious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a unfriendly 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 claiming they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were initially 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It was not external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct 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 “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not cherish the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its broken windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and commercial interests, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first save its stones.