The engagement of the community during the design and construction process is a remarkable contribution to social inclusion and knowledge transfer in this Holcim Awards winning project. Villagers of the Iratapuro River community in north-eastern Brazil collect and process Brazil nuts. They share the profits of extracted nut oil supplied to Natura, a cosmetics company.

Project description by the jury

The project deals with the construction of a nut processing building in São Francisco village adjacent to the Iratapuru River in the Amazon Basin. By modernizing the manufacturing plant, the facility will provide productive, cultural and economic opportunities for the local community. The main objectives of the intervention are to enable the storage and processing of Brazil nuts collected in the area, and also to ensure adequate working conditions for employees. The building is the result of a long and fruitful participatory design process between the architects, the local community, and Natura – the Brazilian cosmetics company uses ingredients extracted from the nuts in its merchandise and became the main financial contributor for the project’s implementation.

As a Main category prize winner in the regional Holcim Awards 2020, Collective Harvest in Brazil automatically qualified as a finalist in the Global Holcim Awards 2021.

View Global Holcim Awards Entry – Collective Harvest in Brazil

The built environment has a significant role to play in addressing climate change and enabling the transition to a net-zero and more inclusive future. The Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction global winners showcase the cutting edge of approaches to sustainable design, green architecture, and materials innovation. The 6th cycle of the competition saw a double-prizewinning entry in Latin America: A project in Colombia won the Global Holcim Awards Silver as well as Gold at the regional level. The global prizes were presented at a handover ceremony at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. The regional Holcim Awards Main category winners for Latin America were recognized at the same event.

Participatory approach - The project answers questions of social inclusion

Since its conception, the development of the project has been linked to design decisions that corroborate the premise of least social and environmental impact. The use of mudbricks molded in loco where the raw material is the soil of the construction area and the workforce made up of workers from the industry, is an example of the concern to maintain the collective involvement between architects, engineers and future users of the factory in its construction process, in addition to consolidating a dialogue with its immediate surroundings. Architecture, therefore, tries not only to comply with programmatic but also economic issues. Through the knowledge linked to the construction of a sustainable building, it is possible to expand the community wisdom, a new possibility of work unfolds.

The structural solution adopted in the industry project is closely linked to the premise of sustainability. Wood is a natural and low-impact material in terms of waste generation in construction. In addition, all the wood to be used is certified, which means that it is part of a reforestation cycle attested by Brazilian official environmental agencies. This choice is also linked to the fact that wood is a lightweight material that requires, therefore, smaller foundations, which generates less material consumption. In addition, its construction will serve as a test laboratory and as a means of spreading knowledge, since its construction will permeate an entirely participatory process.