Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a whimsical nod to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she commented, gazing at its branch-like details. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance against a foreign power, she clarified: “Our aim is to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of staying in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s architectural heritage may appear strange at a period when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each assault, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for History

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been attempting to preserve the city’s decaying 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 first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare in the present day,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display similar 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 displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Several Dangers to Legacy

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a governing class indifferent or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the concept for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he argued.

Destruction and Neglect

One glaring example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had agreed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous industrialists. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered 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 red door and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not appreciate the past? “Sadly they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to move towards the west. But we are still not yet close from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking remained, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she conceded. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first cherish its history.