Kyiv: Architectural Guide. 100 Iconic Buildings since 1925

Since the Euromaidan, Kyiv has been where Europe’s future is being decided between East and West. Meanwhile, the hybrid war in eastern Ukraine and on the Crimean peninsula has escalated into an open Russian war of aggression. Significant buildings in Kyiv and vital infrastructure have come under fire.

 The Kyiv Architectural Guide presents over 100 notable buildings from 100 years of the city’s history, compiled by Ukrainian architectural historian Semen Shyrochyn. This book looks at typical residential complexes from the period of Avant-garde architecture, imposing palaces from the Stalin era, iconic designs belonging to Soviet Modernism, and the most significant construction projects to have been built since Ukraine’s acquisition of its independence in 1991. In over 300 pages, this architectural guide proves that Kyiv is much more than the capital of Ukraine. Kyiv is an inseparable part of the European community of nations, where mutual respect of values counts more than the power of the strongest.

This architectural guide is part of the Histories of Ukrainian Architecture programme initiated by DOM publishers in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty on 24 February 2022.

Semen Shyrochyn: Born in Kyiv in 1988. Ukrainian architectural historian. Studied at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (National Technical University of Ukraine). PhD in computer science (2015). Since 2016 has researched, popularised, and protected architectural heritage. His main research focus is architecture and urban development from the Soviet period. Author of multiple articles about the architecture of Kyiv and industrial cities in Ukraine. Author of 20 books on the history of Kyiv’s architecture and urban development. Took part in the conference ‘The Universality of Phenomena in Zaporizhzhia Modernism and the Bauhaus School. Issues in Preservation of Modernist Heritage’ (2017, Zaporizhzhia). Co-participant in the exhibition project ‘Metropolis: Past Utopias of the Future’ (2018, Kyiv). Curator of the exhibition ‘Reconstruction of Khreschatyk: Competition and Design’ (2018–2019, Kyiv). Co-participant in the project ‘Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Architecture’ (2020, Kyiv).