Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her recently completed front door. Volunteers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its arched shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a peacock,” she stated, admiring its twig-detailed features. The refurbishment initiative at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of a neighboring state, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our country. I could have left, relocating to Italy. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings seems strange at a moment when missile strikes regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Fight for History

Amid the bombs, a group of activists has been attempting to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit analogous art nouveau characteristics, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a small tower on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze protected buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class apathetic or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing real 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 stated that the vision for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come 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 lengthy conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who curiously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Destruction and Disregard

One notorious location of loss is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane dug 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 blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also wrought immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. 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 built for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their authentic doors remain, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that eliminated them. It was us,” she lamented. “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 vine-clad 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 original-style 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 “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Sadly they do not have 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 civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons nested among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she admitted. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of conflict and development pressures, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first protect its walls.