Q
by Giulia Vanelli
portfolio special mention call 'URBANAUTICA INSTITUTE AWARDS 2020', 2020
Category: People and Communities
“Q” stands for Quercianella, a tiny seaside resort in Tuscany where my roots are. In 1908 my great great grandfather - called Nonno Nanni - came to Quercianella to treat himself for asthma. At the time that stretch of coast was completely uninhabited, so he traced the roads and conceived the idea of promoting its development as a residential and seaside resort. In 1911 he started a family-run bathhouse business that still today welcome loyal vacationers who have handed down the love for this slice of land for generations. For more than a hundred years the family, which during the winter months is divided between various areas of Italy and the world, however grown and branched, continues to gather every summer and take care of the places of Nonno Nanni to which bind a rich history of memories and lived life. "Q" is the story of a reality that is placed within a space but outside of time; the places and folklore have been jealously guarded over the years and preserved spontaneously in the simplicity wanted from the beginning.