Marina di Ragusa Waterfront Design (Aug 2008)

Picture this: A classroom full of architecture students in far off Melbourne, Australia, spending a semester designing a new waterfront for tiny little Marina di Ragusa, Sicily. It happened. The three winners received scholarships—and a trip to Marina di Ragusa—thanks to the Associazione Ragusani nel Mondo—the non-profit association “Ragusans in the World.” Hands-On Sicily celebrated their accomplishment.

Marina Kazul, Nikhita Madabouska and Elaine Tzimokas won a contest to design Marina di Ragusa’s waterfront. The ladies are pictured here with Sebastiano d’Angelo, director of the Associazione Ragusani nel Mondo, and Sally Veillette, founder of Hands-On Sicily. Mayor Nello Dipasquale wants the boardwalk to be the longest in Italy—three kilometers. Photo by Giovanni Noto

African music group

Hands-On Sicily supported the Associazione’s efforts by hosting an event for Australian and Ragusan architects. The beat from the African music group from Modica reached into Marina di Ragusa’s piazza. Photo by Giovanni Noto.

Associazione Ragusani nel Mondo hosted the contest. Architect Carlo Corallo of Melbourne, former Ragusan native and 2007 recipient of the Ragusan of the Year award, officiated. Professor Des Smith of Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus supported the students. The winners said that it felt like Marina di Ragusa came alive to them from across the seas.

Hands-On Sicily hosted an arrival dinner for the group, then a departure celebration that brought the Australians together with a wide range of Sicilian architects (many of whom would have loved to have been asked to design Marina di Ragusa’s waterfront themselves!). Mayor Nello Dipasquale’s vision is that Marina’s boardwalk be the longest in all of Italy—three kilometers.

“Marina di Ragusa is growing up,” says Sally, founder of Hands-On Sicily. “But I think it’s still deciding what kind of woman it wants to grow into.”

Three architectural students from Melbourne, Australia, are awarded scholarships as Ragusa’s thank you for their progressive designs. Photo by Giovanni Noto

Franco Antoci is president both of the Province of Ragusa and the non-profit Associazione Ragusani nel Mondo. They host a annual award ceremony honoring people with Ragusan roots who have had success in the world.

View from Sally’s grandfather’s beachfront apartment in 2009

View from the apartment in 2010. The waterfront was modernized, an old abandoned fish market removed, new palm trees planted. The condominium is undergoing some construction, as well.

Marina di Ragusa’s tree-lined piazza in 2011

Sally’s father, Paul Veillette, is pleading with Mayor Nello Dipasquale to leave the shade trees intact when this piazza is modernized.