In the subtitle of this article, I defined Largo La Foppa as a dense urban asterisk. I find this is an honest and precise description, for more reasons than one.

First of all, simply for the shape of this crossroads: from this point, six streets begin, just like the symbol “*”, which opens its directions like an asterisk, and each one runs further and further away from its very next.

Second reason: my comparison is properly symbolic, since this graphic sign has the function to attract the attention towards a specific concept and to explain it more thoroughly, given the importance of the topic. This is exactly what this point would be if Milan were a text: thinking of Milan as a poem, Largo la Foppa is one of the footnotes.

This crossroads has been wisely converted into a square littered with all kinds of activities. The partition of the functions and the spaces has been made with people in mind. The sidewalks are expanded to accommodate the many dehors – the flowerbeds have been transformed into benches. 

If you wish, you can spend the whole day here having available the best offers for breakfast, lunch, a snack, dinner or a drink (before or after dinner). Just remember: you’ll have to drink it strictly outdoors like (and with) the locals, waiting for some acquaintance to pass by randomly.