Tatiana Carbonell is a historian of architecture whose work intersects the history of landscape and technology with the history of science through the study of infrastructures designed to mitigate catastrophes. Her doctoral research analyzed how knowledge produced around weather and climate catastrophes relied on engineering, traditional knowledge, and scientific practices that informed conceptualizations of climate in the nineteenth century. Extending this analytical framework, her current research examines the forms of climate knowledge produced by financial institutions during the twentieth century.

• 2021–2026
  Doctor of Science in History and Theory of Architecture Institute (gta), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH). Thesis awarded Highest Distinction 
  Advisors: Laurent Stalder, Debjani Bhattacharyya. Committee: Deborah Coen, Edward Eigen.
• 2015–2017
  Master Landscape Architecture, Magister en Arquitectura del Paisaje (MAPA), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). Thesis awarded Highest Distinction
• 2014
  Master Exchange Program, Ecole Supérieure Nationale d’Architecture de Paris-Malaquais (ENSAPM)
• 2010–2015
  Bachelor Architecture, Escuela de Arquitectura (EARQ), PUC

• 2026–2031
  Postdoctoral Researcher, History Department, University of Zurich (UZH)
• 2024
  Lecturer at Institute of Landscape and Urban Studies. ETH Zurich
• 2021
  Lecturer at Barch Architecture, Diego Portales University (UDP) 
• 2020–2021
  Lecturer at March Master Architecture (MARQ), PUC
• 2018–2021
  Lecturer at Barch Architecture, EARQ, PUC
• 2018
  Adjunct Instructor Barch Architecture, Andres Bello University (UNAB) 
• 2016–2017
  Research and Teaching Assistant March MARQ, PUC 
   

Her ongoing research Scales of Disaster Risk Management, from Accident to Catastrophe, part of ERC project Fair Weather Finance, studies the emergence of insurance company-conducted research on weather-related accidents and disasters by Zurich Accident Insurance Company, among others, to ask if it set the stage for contemporary catastrophe bonds.It studies the history of insuring railway logistics and the transport of goods against weather disturbances in the second half of the twentieth century and how this type of insurance became a source of knowledge about climate change. The work focuses on the Zurich Accident Insurance Company, leading accident insurance company at the time, which, since 1875, had produced measurements and maps of weather patterns. By the 1950’s Zurich extended its geographical coverage, which brought diversification in customer claims. The claims related to wind storms and flooding documented weather behaving in seemingly random patterns, challenging early twentieth century statistical models. This unpredictability fueled growing concerns about the probabilities of such events and underscored the critical role of reinsurance companies like Swiss Re and Lloyd’s of London. This work package examines the debates surrounding the categorization of disastrous events as natural or man-made and aims to compare the weather models these companies used to determine premium policies with the frequency and severity of accident claims that disrupted their statistical predictions. By analyzing the intersection of insurance practices and irregular weather-related events, the project explores how transport infrastructure insurance data may offer early insights into climate variability.