Design by Fire: Resistance, Co-Creation and Retreat in the Pyrocene

We live in the age of fire — the Pyrocene — where wildfire risks are increasing, intensifying, and reshaping our landscapes and communities. Design by Fire explores how design can confront this urgent climate reality through new strategies of adaptation, resilience, and retreat. This thought-provoking volume documents 27 global case studies located in vulnerable wildland-urban interfaces, where fire meets human habitation and land management.

Using a blend of fieldwork, drone imagery, mapping, and interviews, the book categorizes design responses into three critical modes: resistance (fire prevention and protection), co-creation (working with fire and natural cycles), and retreat (reducing human intervention in fire-prone environments). Rather than offering prescriptive solutions, it invites architects, landscape designers, urban planners, and policymakers to rethink their relationship with fire through experimental design strategies that respond to ecological realities.

 Key Features:

• 27 global case studies from fire-prone regions around the world

• Incorporates mapping, drone imagery, and interview-based fieldwork

• ️ Presents techniques across three categories: resistance, co-creation, and retreat

• Highlights the urgent intersection of climate change, design, and wildfire

• Encourages innovation and critical reflection rather than one-size-fits-all answers

• A vital tool for architects, landscape architects, urban designers, fire ecologists, and climate adaptation professionals

Ideal For:

• Landscape architects and urban designers

• Environmental planners and policymakers

• Climate change adaptation researchers

• Wildfire resilience and land-use experts

• Students and educators in design, ecology, and planning fields

Authors :

Emily Schlickman (Author), Brett Milligan (Author)

From the book: