Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. Local helpers had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peacock,” she commented, admiring its branch-like ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an act of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of remaining in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear unusual at a moment when drone attacks frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been significantly intensified. After each assault, workers seal broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for Identity

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been attempting to save the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a distinctive 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 affluent fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko said. The building was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby display 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 boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Dangers to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down protected buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership indifferent or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Loss and Abandonment

One notorious 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 agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not external attacks that got rid of 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 acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and authentic 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 tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not value the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still not yet close from such cultural awareness,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she admitted. “Restoration is a coping mechanism for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s soul, you must first cherish its stones.