From Legal Constraint to Local Craft: Four Adaptive Projects by messina | rivas in Cunha

"The municipality of Cunha, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, is a region known for its inland landscape, hilly terrain, and, especially, a major production of nationally renowned ceramics. It is within this context that the office messina | rivas has been working since 2017, with a set of projects located on a farm. Their work, which integrates design and construction in an indissociable manner, results in interventions that reveal a sensitive approach to pre-existing conditions and their surrounding environment."

"The relationship between the office, led by architects Francisco Rivas and Rodrigo Messina, and the site began with a small renovation of a guest house for hosting friends. The project resulted in the transformation of two existing bedrooms into suites and the creation of an external kitchen. Since then, growing demands and the need to adapt existing buildings have driven the design of other projects distributed across the same site."

"This article seeks to weave together some relationships that permeate four projects carried out for the farm: Nica House, the Laundry Room, the Chicken Coop Studio (Ateliê Galinheiro), and the Main House. As buildings located on the same site and designed for the same client, they share characteristics that delineate their design processes, such as acting upon pre-existing structures. The existence of a creek, for example, imposes a 30-meter Permanent Preservation Area strip, according to Brazilian Forest Code, which prevents the construction of new buildings in that area. Thus, the projects start from pre-existing constructions, demonstrating ways to address growing demands without the necessity of building from scratch."

Cunha, São Paulo, features inland, hilly terrain and notable ceramics production. The office messina | rivas has worked on a farm since 2017, integrating design and construction. Initial work converted two bedrooms into suites and added an external kitchen for guests. Subsequent projects grew from adapting existing buildings to meet new demands rather than building anew. Four key projects include Nica House, the Laundry Room, the Chicken Coop Studio (Ateliê Galinheiro), and the Main House. Site constraints, such as a creek with a 30-meter Permanent Preservation Area under the Brazilian Forest Code, guide interventions and favor reuse and enclosure strategies.

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