Iron Stars

Valparaiso, port city of earthquakes, commerce and modernity, keeps in its facades a silent testimony of the 19th century: the star-shaped anchor bolts. This book reveals the history, technique and symbolism of these structural elements that, beyond their engineering function, express an era in which the useful could also be beautiful.From the fiscal warehouses to the viewpoints of the hills, Estrellas de Hierro documents the European origin of these devices, their arrival in Chile as part of the international iron trade, and their adaptation to the seismic and port conditions of Valparaiso. With historical rigor, unpublished sources and accessible language, the author proposes a patrimonial reading of the star bolts: pieces that connect architecture, engineering, state policy and urban memory.Halfway between historical essay and heritage research, this book invites us to look with new eyes at the iron stars that still support -and narrate- the material history of Valparaiso.