Timber Architecture in a Fire-Prone City: Building a Fire Regime in Valparaíso, Chile 1838–1906

Abstract

This article analyses the history of timber architecture in Valparaíso, viewed through the lens of the city’s flammability. It uses the concept of fire regime to examine how considerations of fire risk have shaped urban development between 1838 and 1906. The research aims to show that Valparaíso’s frequent fires, along with its preference for timber construction in the nineteenth century, fed social tensions affecting local traditions and contributing to the creation of a complex notion of fire regime and fire risk. Sources include official documents from the municipal, regional, and national governments, press, and the records of private firefighting companies. The research focuses on three main elements of Valparaíso’s fire regime. First, it demonstrates that fires gradually became viewed as a human and social problem in the city. Secondly, it illustrates how this transition directly affected the production of a local architecture. And finally, it reveals the paradox of Valparaíso’s vernacular timber architecture as based on an imported material.