Artigo Completo:

Building with earth is an age-old practice still common in many cultures of the world, especially where there is less presence of industrialization. In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in incorporating more sustainable processes in the production of consumer goods in all spheres (environmental, economic and social). In construction, one of the emerging alternatives is natural building, wich proposes the use of natural materials — such as clay, wood, straw and stone — and traditional building techniques, with simple resources that are accessible to most people, hence the association with self-construction and mutirão — Portuguese word for collective mobilization for mutual assistance in a free character. The problem addressed is the feasibility of mutirão and its social gains in natural building that has mud as key material. The object of study is the earthen house of the author, designed and self-built in the rural area of Pelotas-RS, southern Brazil. The general objective is to study the possible gains of the mutirão practice in the refered natural building, on wich more than 80 volunteers helped. The specific objectives are: a) to define the concept of natural construction and to explain the constructive technique applied in the house studied (cob); b) to analyse the relationship between mutirão and complexity of the constructive technique; and c) evaluation of the observed social sustainability gains. As results, it is noticed that the mutirão sessions attracted many helpers due to the curiosity about learning an unconventional constructive technique and allowed many exchanges of ideas and experiences. They have also contributed to a more playful work environment, despite the considerable amount of work produced, considering the inexperience of the volunteers. It is concluded that natural building and mutirão complete each other, and can collaborate for practical gains of social sustainability.