Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she remarked, admiring its branch-like details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with several neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an expression of resistance against a neighboring state, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of staying in our country. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy seems paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each strike, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Fight for Beauty

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s deteriorating 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 initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display similar art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish listed buildings, dishonest officials and a administrative body unconcerned or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the concept for the capital is reminiscent of a different time. 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 fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Destruction and Disregard

One notorious example of destruction is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also caused immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could facilitate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent advocates of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing 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 value the past? “Unfortunately they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” 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 caved in; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we don’t win,” she admitted. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

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