Family time with Gianni and Valeria

In an old film set turned home, Valeria and Gianni are raising Olivia and Mila amidst swings, sewing and clove-studded lemons. A creative family that finds balance in the chaos of everyday life.

30 March 2013 by Monapart

CHAOS MAGAZINE | 30.03.2013

With the family, with Gianni and Valeria | Monapart

Gianni appears down the street with his two daughters, six-year-old Olivia and 2-and-a-half-year-old Mila, who are coming back from buying bread. Gianni opens the doorway of the entrance hall and up the narrow stairs the two girls dash simultaneously while shouting “Mum, open up!” Gianni tells us that nobody lives on the stairs, they are all offices. Even his flat used to be a photography studio where his father, a commercial director and filmmaker, had his office.

Valeria opens the door for us and we see small traces of the place's former function, sliding roofs, photography lights. Both say that the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot, since Gianni being an architect and Valeria a designer, they have only renovated the bathroom. On the other hand, the high ceilings they are allowed to have a swing and a trapeze in the dining room, which delights the girls and above all their school friends.

For this couple, having children has meant learning to organise themselves better: “We have an Excel spreadsheet and we split the tasks 50/50. Luckily, the girls now go to the same school, which makes things easier, but it used to be more chaotic,” says Gianni. On the kitchen island, which opens out onto the living room, they’ve started putting up the Christmas decorations by sticking cloves into some oranges, and next it’ll be the tree’s turn.

Valeria explains to us that Olivia likes crafts and makes dresses for her dolls out of bags, so one day Gianni suggested that a local sewing workshop give her lessons. At that moment she appears with a lemon cake she has made, the family Labrador chases a ball, Mila swings, and for a moment we see the cake on the floor and the happy Labrador, but finally everything returns to balance and the cake goes back safely to the fridge.

“Involving them in day-to-day tasks saves you hassle because if they help you to make dinner or lay the table, you don't have to worry about making dinner and watching the girls. Each at their own age, the girls are more independent and Valeria mentions that she no longer feels so bad if she spends a whole day without seeing them because of work or, as Gianni did once with a conference at the COAC, they can take them with them, as they often do with theatre shows or exhibitions, it is good for them to know that there are adult things and children's things, but you always have to bear in mind that you might have to leave a play or an exhibition early.”

And Sunday continues between tranquillity and the small plans that crop up.

…a typical Sunday morning?
Slacking off a bit, walking the dog, going to pick up the bread... Truth is, the morning just slips away with little things. We aren't big on planning anything, though after lunch we might go to the cinema or do something else. Although many weekends we are in Begur.

…favourite place to go for a walk?
Around Begur, the Carretera de les Aigües, anywhere with nature because we're going with the dog...

…favourite children's reading?
The Rainbow Fish or The Hedgehog, a book I found on the street.

...favourite music?
Olivia has her own playlist on Spotify, but generally she likes the same things as us, Julieta Venegas, Yael Naim…

...favourite restaurant?
The boat in Sant Adrià, near the Fòrum, it doesn't feel like you're in Barcelona!

...the best advice you've been given about children?
Valeria: between female friends, when we feel guilty, we tend to say “you do what you can!”
Gianni: It’s not advice I’ve been given because I haven’t been given much, but it’s sort of a “I'll cross that bridge when I come to it”.

...moment do you particularly remember?
Valeria: when the two of them were born and brought to me I remember Olivia had enormous big eyes and Mila had a lot of hair. That was what I noticed the most!
Gianni: Olivia's first ultrasound and a train trip to Perpignan that I took alone with Olivia, the first time without mum for a whole weekend, which I still need to do with Mila.