Safeguarding Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its tree limb-inspired details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition towards an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like ordinary people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of remaining in our homeland. I could have left, starting anew to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear paradoxical at a moment when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Within the Conflict, a Fight for Beauty

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity showcase analogous art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area displays two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Threats to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze listed buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership unconcerned or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the concept 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 defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he remarked.

Demolition and Neglect

One notorious location of loss is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated 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 demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his crucial preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves 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 fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still not yet close from that standard,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. 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. “Often we lose the battle,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a form of healing for us. We are attempting to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first cherish its stones.