Hello from the hub,

Last Friday we returned with Beta Bar, our traveling format that turns a neighborhood bar into a place to meet, listen, and share stories.

A small gesture to slow down, be present, and rebuild a sense of village in the city.

This time we stopped in Celio, for an edition created together with Roman Radar and dedicated to the neighborhood as seen by the people who actually live it.

Celio sits in the very center of Rome. Many pass through it, but few truly experience it. Over the years tourism and short-term rentals have reshaped much of its daily life, leaving fewer and fewer everyday places where the neighborhood still feels like itself.

Inside the bar we created a small exhibition that brought forward some of those places and the people behind them. Much of this work came from Giulia Kappelin Cingolani, who lives in the neighborhood and has spent time listening to local shopkeepers and documenting the quiet life of Celio.

Without people who live a place every day, moments like this couldn’t exist.
Rebuilding the village always starts from within.

For a few hours the bar slowly turned into a piazza.
Strangers became neighbors.
Old faces reappeared, new ones stepped into something unexpected.

In the middle of it all we were reminded why we do this.
Not for the format.
Not for the event.

For the people in the room.

A village isn’t an idea.
It’s a series of small recognitions.

Someone remembers your name.
Someone asks what you’re building.
Someone introduces two people who should have met years ago.

That’s the infrastructure that really matters.

Thank you to Roman Radar, Mikael Garofalo for the music, Sofia Cavallari for capturing the night, SpazioOttocento for hosting us, and to everyone who showed up and made the room feel like a village.

A special mention to the shopkeepers of Celio: Ugo, Walter, Giovanni, Anna, and Maurizio. They hold this small village together every day.

Go back to them.
Don’t forget them.

March and April will bring new neighborhoods, new stories, and new encounters.

Cities don’t lack people.
They lack connection.

That’s what we’re working on.

c+e hub
Rebuild the Village.