Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Itself Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. Local helpers had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a whimsical nod to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, appreciating its twig-detailed details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance against an invading force, she clarified: “We are trying to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our country. I had the option to depart, moving away to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage could be considered paradoxical at a time when drone attacks frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been notably increased. After each attack, workers cover broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Campaign for Beauty

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been attempting to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The residence was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit comparable art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership apathetic or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov stated that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who curiously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and public institutions,” he argued.

Loss and Neglect

One notorious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, diggers demolished it. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, 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 allow for large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not external attacks that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing 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 operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Unfortunately they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its shattered windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we don’t win,” she conceded. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this past and splendour.”

In the face of war and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to save a city’s heart, you must first cherish its walls.