Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

A new tree, the collective painting of the square, culture and sociality. Lipparini: “We will transform this place of passage into a public space available to citizens, with events, meetings and opportunities to be together”

Milan, Thursday 27 June 2019 – The new collaboration agreement for the shared care of Piazzale Corvetto was signed today in the presence of the councilor for Participation, Active Citizenship and Open Data Lorenzo Lipparini and the President of Municipality 4 Paolo Bassi.

The title of the project is "Azzaip!", square backwards: a name that evokes the sound of Arabic words, to draw attention to the multicultural richness of the neighborhood. Different cultures animate and make up the same collaboration pact proposed by Giacomo Sarasso, manager of the kiosk located in the square which has become "the kiosk of poetry" for everyone. For some time now, this small place with a 'Parisien' style has hosted free and shared poetry reading performances, as well as a bookcrossing corner, attracting great participation (over 60 people were present at the last event on 21 June).

The proposal to the Municipality of Milan for a collaboration pact is the result of the path that Giacomo and Luoghicomuni, the action promoted by Labsus and Italia Nostra Nord Milano within the Lacittàintorno urban regeneration program of Fondazione Cariplo, have carried out together to transform a space of passage and without identity in a pleasant place in which to meet, mingle, create culture, supporting it on different fronts.

Labsus accompanied Giacomo in the engagement of stakeholders, in the drafting and presentation of the proposal, in the communication of the initiative, while Italia Nostra made resources and skills available for the feasibility analysis and planting of a tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, which will take place in November.

The Municipality of Milan will provide the necessary material for the collective painting of the flooring, scheduled for Sunday 30 June starting from 10am, and for the planting of the tree.

The pact also involves the florist Hossain Anowar, originally from Bangladesh, and the Bolivian newsagent Vladimir Ricalde, "kiosk neighbors", who will contribute to the planned care actions, particularly during the Christmas period; two different collectives of young architects, PR5 Studio and Studio Pasta Madre, have already made their technical skills available to design the project for the square and in the future they will organize workshops for the self-construction of street furniture for parking; the Punta alla Luna children's bookshop, which will organize public reading moments with the little ones; the teacher and poet Nino Iacovella, who will continue to promote community, on-site and itinerant poetic events; the Terzo Paesaggio neighborhood association, which will announce the events that will happen elsewhere, in Corvetto or in nearby Chiaravalle.

“Today we are making an agreement which will see many neighborhood entities and citizens who live and work around Piazzale Corvetto collaborate, with the common desire to transform this place of passage into a public space available to the community – comments councilor Lorenzo Lipparini (Participation , active citizenship and Open data) –, a crossroads of events, meetings and opportunities for the entire neighborhood. Each new collaboration agreement demonstrates the great determination and planning of active Milanese citizens, and is for us confirmation of the effectiveness and strong social value that generated the approval of the Regulation for the shared management of common goods".