Protecting the Capital's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her freshly fitted front door. Volunteers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, gazing at its branch-like ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition against an invading force, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of staying in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, moving away to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered unusual at a moment when missile strikes regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each attack, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Explosions, a Battle for History

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been striving to save the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display comparable art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire 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.

Several Challenges to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership unconcerned or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack real 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 flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Demolition and Disregard

One notorious location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most prominent advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was killed in 2022 while fighting in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful creeper-covered house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and original-style railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little 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 value the past? “Sadly they do not have 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. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its smashed windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of war and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first protect its walls.