Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, gazing at its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with two impromptu pavement parties.
It was also an demonstration of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. We’re not afraid of staying in our homeland. I could have left, moving away to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”
“Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”
Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear unusual at a time when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers cover shattered windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.
Within the Explosions, a Battle for History
In the midst of war, a collective of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s deteriorating 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 facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.
“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The building was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau elements, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One beloved house in the area displays two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.
Several Challenges to Heritage
But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class unconcerned or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another difficulty.
“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was closely associated 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, saying they originate from political rivals.
Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once defended older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see deterioration of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.
Destruction and Neglect
One egregious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. Shortly following 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 not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.
Upholding the Legacy
One of Kyiv’s most prominent defenders of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.
“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.
“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”
The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not value the past? “Sadly they are without 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 civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.
Therapy in Action
Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its smashed windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Often we lose the battle,” she conceded. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this past and splendour.”
In the face of conflict and neglect, these activists continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to save a city’s soul, you must first protect its history.
