Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its tree limb-inspired features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with a couple of lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance towards a neighboring state, she explained: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of living in Ukraine. I could have left, moving away to Italy. 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 organizing our life in the most positive way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy seems unusual at a time when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each strike, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Fight for Beauty

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been working to conserve the city’s crumbling 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 first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area displays two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Several Threats to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze historically significant buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class apathetic or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the concept for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, 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.

Destruction and Disregard

One glaring demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, monitored by a surly 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 stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also caused immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their authentic doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Unfortunately they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Resilience in Preservation

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons roosted among its shattered windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she conceded. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this history and aesthetic value.”

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