Safeguarding the Capital's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a whimsical nod to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its branch-like features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance towards a foreign power, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of living in our homeland. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like normal people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the optimal way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear unusual at a moment when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers cover broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Among the Explosions, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a group of activists has been working to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit comparable art nouveau elements, 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 Challenges to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze listed buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership apathetic or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We don’t have genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once protected older properties were now engaged in combat or had been lost. The protracted conflict meant that everyone 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 continues the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Destruction and Neglect

One egregious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its picturesque brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, heavy machinery razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted 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, redesigning its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s successful business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It was not foreign rockets that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered 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 period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Unfortunately 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 some distance away from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Restoration

Some buildings are crumbling because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna showed a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to rebuild a city’s soul, you must first protect its history.