Saturday, September 20, 2025 – 6:00 p.m.
Parco Museo Poggio Valicaia
Via della Poggiona, 6 A, 50018 Scandicci FI
The Cultural Association La Nottola di Minerva ETS is pleased to present the ninth edition of the festival Felicità Metropolitane, as part of Open City 2025, with the support of the Metropolitan City of Florence, the Municipality of Scandicci within OPEN CITY 2025, and in collaboration with Tram di Firenze S.p.A.:
Reading in Nature
From The Air Factory to the Third Carer
Biophilic architecture and holistic design of hospitals
Songs of Life
Care, well-being, health, science, architecture, art, and music
Speakers:
- Ab Rogers, internationally renowned designer and architect, author of one of the most celebrated Maggie’s Centres
- Sergio Luzzi, President of P.E.S.C.A.S.: Mauro Batisti, The Forest Is My Cure. From the woods to the garden, an extraordinary gift of nature to promote well-being, prevention, and healing, I Libri di Mompracem
- Tiziano Fratus, Italian writer and poet, author of Una foresta ricamata (Mimesis)
- Sara Fruner, writer, translator, and poet. She lived for many years in New York, where she worked in the publishing industry, and now resides between Italy and the United States. Author of novels and poetry collections marked by an intense and refined style. La rossa goletta, Crocetti Editore
- Letizia Fuochi, singer-songwriter and storyteller
Moderators: Cristina Benedettini, architect, and Stefania Costa, La Nottola di Minerva ETS
A new event in the Reading in Nature cycle, part of Careggi Ospedale Biofilico conceived by Stefano Mancuso, weaving together reflection, emotion, and inspiration, and placing the relationship between environment, well-being, and beauty at the center as instruments of healing.
The event is organized in collaboration with P.E.S.C.A.S. – Association of Expert Professionals for the Safeguarding and Culture of Environment and Health, committed to promoting an empathetic architecture attentive to the human dimension.
At the heart of the gathering is the experience of the Maggie’s Centres, support centers for people affected by cancer, founded in the United Kingdom from an idea by Maggie Keswick Jencks and her husband Charles Jencks, urban planner and architectural theorist. Today, the Maggie’s Centres represent an international benchmark for their integrated approach that combines architectural design, relationships, listening, and psychological support.
The meeting will offer an opportunity to reflect on how space can become an ally in healing, and how design can respond to people’s deep, often invisible needs.
An encounter where scientific and architectural narratives merge with the artistic dimension, to envision together a deeper and more sensitive culture of care, where beauty is not a luxury but a necessity.
Ab Rogers will share his design vision and the experience behind the creation of one of the Maggie’s Centres, illustrating how architecture can tangibly contribute to the well-being of those facing illness.
Sergio Luzzi, expert in sensory and environmental design, will explore the role of listening and perceptual quality in healthcare spaces.
Cristina Benedettini will bring the perspective of Italian architecture on the theme of empathetic design, reflecting on how built space can profoundly shape people’s emotional experience.
Tiziano Fratus, poet of trees and inner forests, will guide the audience through readings from his book Una foresta ricamata, evoking the bond between nature, memory, and healing.
Letizia Fuochi, with her voice and musical storytelling, will take the audience on an emotional journey between memory and hope, performing songs that evoke resilience, transformation, and human connection.