Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Itself Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its ornate transom window the “croissant”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its branch-like features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance towards a neighboring state, she explained: “We strive to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of staying in our homeland. I could have left, moving away to another European nation. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance shows our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear paradoxical at a period when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Fight for History

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been attempting 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 built in 1906 and was initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit similar art nouveau characteristics, including an irregular shape – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Dual Threats to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down listed buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class indifferent or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov further alleged that the vision for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been lost. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing economic hardship, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Destruction and Disregard

One notorious demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. 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 coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate official processions.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It was not external attacks that got rid of them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she emphasized. 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 also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and period-correct 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 resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not appreciate the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Restoration

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its broken windows; refuse lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to save a city’s soul, you must first save its history.