Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her newly installed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, gazing at its branch-like features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We have no fear of remaining in Ukraine. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to another European nation. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy may appear unusual at a moment when drone attacks regularly target the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each attack, workers cover broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Explosions, a Campaign for Beauty

Despite the violence, a group of activists has been working to save the city’s decaying mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display analogous art nouveau elements, including an irregular shape – with a gothic tower 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 devil.

Several Dangers to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a governing class apathetic or resistant to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor has refuted these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who curiously 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.

Loss and Neglect

One glaring location of loss is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, excavators tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while asserting they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life 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 at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments 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 added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique ivy-draped house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and original-style railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect 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 residents not cherish the past? “Regrettably they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are collapsing 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; refuse lay under a whimsical tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a form of healing for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

In the face of destruction and commercial interests, these activists continue their work, one door at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first protect its walls.