Protecting the Capital's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its curved shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she stated, appreciating its tree limb-inspired details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance towards a foreign power, she explained: “We are trying to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our homeland. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings seems strange at a moment when missile strikes regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each attack, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Conflict, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been working to conserve 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 constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity showcase similar art nouveau characteristics, 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 devil.

Several Threats to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class indifferent or resistant to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov stated that the concept for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been fallen. The ongoing conflict meant that everyone was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Demolition and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, observed 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 destroyed old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also caused immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his crucial 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 survived, she said.

“It was not external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a historic washroom 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 “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate the past? “Sadly they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and beauty.”

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