Milan unveils 1,100 sqm floor art tribute to Gianni Rodari

Milan has inaugurated a 1,100-square-meter pavement artwork in Piazzale Tripoli, honoring writer Gianni Rodari on the centenary of his birth. The piece, created by street artist SMOE (originally from Catanzaro), depicts a girl inspired by Rodari's 1962 book "Favole al telefono" and functions as an interactive playground. The project is part of the city's "Piazze aperte" tactical urbanism initiative, run with Bloomberg Associates, NACTO, and the Global Designing Cities Initiative. The Municipality 6, led by President Santo Minniti, issued a call won by creative studio Artkademy, which selected SMOE. The artwork transforms a previously degraded area into a social and play space, with the municipality tripling funds for social needs in 2020.