The Recognition and Mutation of an Ancestral Architecture

Abstract

For different reasons and contexts, indigenous communities face adversities when trying to keep their constructive knowledge alive. This work focuses on the vernacular architecture with Brazilian cultural roots of the Guarani Mbya group, commonly overlooked by academic, political, and social circles. Its development combined bibliographical research with social participation methodologies – on-site survey through a guided tour; graphic activity with the children's audience; and discussion, with the aid of a physical model, on the traditional architecture –, addressing aspects of cultural, spatial and social organization, and inhabit and build constraints’ of the group. The result consists of a brief survey of the transmutation of this indigenous architecture over the centuries, bringing to the debate the importance of recording this constructive technical knowledge in order to keep it available for future discussions on heritage, architecture, and sustainability.