Some projects begin long before the drawing. In Itaipava, in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, a former stable at Fazenda São João de Icaraí remained as the last trace of a rural past: an isolated, silent volume surrounded by vegetation. When architect and designer Lucas Jimeno Dualde was invited to intervene in the property, the central question was not simply how to renovate an almost 80-year-old structure, but how to transform this former agricultural space into a contemporary country house without erasing the site's emotional geography. A Spaniard based in Brazil, with references spanning Lina Bo Bardi, Zanine Caldas, and Luis Barragán, Lucas approaches architecture and interiors less as an exercise in style and more as a way of organizing experiences over time. At Casa Itaipava, this approach takes shape in a project that starts from the preexisting structure, the rural shed, to reconfigure flows, proportions, and uses, always in dialogue with the surrounding landscape.

The commission arose from the owner's desire to update the property while maintaining its original structure. Lucas recognized the opportunity to preserve the ensemble while reorganizing the program with precision. The former food storage pavilion was transformed into the barbecue core; the stalls' area gave way to living rooms and a kitchen; and the axis of the four suites derives directly from the redesign of the original stables. At the center, the pool serves as an open courtyard, evoking monastic and Moorish architecture. The intervention followed a clear principle: the new does not compete with the old. The volume of the bedrooms simplifies the roof composition and creates continuity between what already existed and what was added. Openings follow a logic inherited from Portuguese tradition: more contained in the bedrooms, wider in the social areas, allowing the house to open onto its surroundings without losing its sense of shelter. The minimalist stainless steel frames, produced in the owner's own factory, introduce a contemporary element without disrupting the overall sobriety.

The choice of materials responds to country living with restraint. The walls received a clay texture, rougher on the exterior and smoother on the interior, marking the transition between inside and outside. The flooring alternates wood and cement tiles in a pinkish tone, providing visual continuity and durability for daily use. A single chromatic deviation concentrates intensity: a deep blue corridor, a deliberate reference to Barragán, where color acts as both passage and pause. The furniture reinforces the project's coherence. Most pieces were designed by Lucas and produced by a local workshop, functioning as structural elements that organize the space: tables, shelving, sideboards, and sofas that define use rather than compete with the architecture. In the living room, Concha armchairs by Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler, sourced from Leilão Design, are positioned in front of the fireplace. At the same time, cement tiles from Olaria Elementum cover the entire floor of the social area. This base is complemented by furniture by Zanine Caldas and Lina Bo Bardi, along with works of popular art, echoing a research into Brazilian material culture and bringing the house closer to an expanded notion of landscape. Fazenda Itaipava reflects a design ethic grounded in restraint and sensory comfort. The social spaces are generous, intended for hosting family and friends, yet they maintain a calm, almost retreat-like atmosphere. The suites, in turn, are treated with greater chromatic discretion, privileging intimacy and controlled light. The result is a house that does not impose itself on the landscape: it extends the terrain, listens to the place's memory, and offers its inhabitants a space for retreat within the mountains. For Lucas, the value of the project lies precisely in this synthesis between permanence and renewal. Architecture, rural history, and contemporary life converge in a balance that allows the house to be, at once, document and dwelling.