The project for the Indigenous Handcraft House began from the community's need to rescue a more traditional way of life, where their handicrafts are valued and in which community members do not have to make long trips to urban centers to sell the handicrafts. Unfortunately, indigenous peoples in the south of Brazil have to constantly battle for their survival, and it is no different in the community where the Handcraft House is located. There, the lands are not yet demarcated and the existence of this building gives even more weight to a judicial decision in favor of the possession of the land by the indigenous people who live there. It is very common in the south of Brazil for indigenous people to exhibit their beautiful handicrafts on the ground of large cities, being almost always ignored by citizens. The project also arose from the need for a space that is as sacred as the Mbya Guarani handicrafts.

As the community already receives many visitors for healing ceremonies and schools for visitation, the space will be an important catalyst for sales, which will bring more autonomy to residents, who have great difficulty in having access to abundant food. This community is probably one of the strongest in the south of Brazil in terms of heritage preservation and spiritual practices.

The project was conceived from the partnership between the NGO Housing and Citizenship, Sabiá Sustainable Constructions and the community itself, in a participatory project from start to finish. 

The main goal of this project is to generate autonomy for the community. We know that government assistance is limited and can generate stagnation. For this reason, Sabiá and Housing and Citizenship supported this project, that will generate, in the medium and long term, the self-sufficiency this indigeneous community.

The Handicraft House will not only be a space for commercialization, but also for meetings, fairs, conversation circles, handicraft classes for the youngest... In short, a space for cultural preservation open to many activities that will generate vigor and self-confidence for the community members.

The community where the building is located is already well articulated, and receives more than 300 students from public and private non-indigenous schools annually to experience a cultural immersion. These moments are important for the commercialization of handicrafts, but without an adequate space, it was difficult. In addition, the community is known for its potent healing rituals, and they welcome people from all over Latin America. In addition to being a Handicraft Center, the space has a mezzanine specifically designed to accommodate visitors, who until then had to precariously accommodate themselves in tents. 

Many men in the community undergo very hard manual labor on rural properties throughout the state to be able to support their families, staying away from home for many months. The project will provide the opportunity for these men to stay in the community and focus on their skills as artisans.

The first person to contact the community was Artur, state coordinator of the NGO Housing and Citizenship. He visited the community to go on a hike and talked to the chief, who commented the need for a space to receive visitors and sell their handicrafts. Thus, Housing and Citizenship began to structure a team to make the project happen.

It was at that moment that they contacted Sabiá Sustainable Constructions, an architecture and engineering office that has been working with projects in Mbya Guarani communities for more than 7 years and rescuing ancestral construction techniques. The NGO was responsible for coordinating the project and searching for financial resources and Sabiá focused on creating a bond with the community and jointly developing the architectural project.

The project was developed over several meetings, until they reached a result that considered all members' opinions. With the financial resource in hands, Sabiá was also hired to manage the construction process. The money came from several donor organizations, such as Sindibancários and FENAE. Other partners also include the builder Daniel and team, who built much of the building; the biobuilder Jaime who supplied sustainable wood for the construction; Aya Bioconstruction, a collective formed by two bioconstruction women that assisted in the execution of the earth walls.

The earth walls and the sanitary system were built collectively by more than 200 volunteers, in moments of integration between indigenous and non-indigenous people.