Rome, Italy
Unrolling imagination across Rome’s first school street
The Project
Via Monte Ruggero marks Rome’s first “school street” to integrate asphalt art as a tool for safer, more people-centered public space. In the heart of Tufello, where several schools, a library, and community facilities converge, the street had long been a fast-moving corridor that posed daily risks for children and families. In response, the City partnered with artist Gio Pistone to reimagine the corridor as a pedestrian-priority zone.
Through an online survey with more than 2,000 participants, residents selected Pistone’s Flying Carpet design, a vibrant mural that signals to drivers that they are entering a shared, low-speed environment. Paired with new benches, plantings, and bicycle racks, the artwork supports Rome’s broader goals for sustainable mobility and safer school access. The transformed Via Monte Ruggero now functions as a joyful public space where students and neighbors can walk, play, and gather.
“Flying Carpet represents an inclusive gathering place, a comfortable square where neighborhood communities all hang out together. People walk, children play, teenagers chat, all together in a cozy square on a carpet of colors to fly together.”
Gio Pistone, artist
Use the slider to see the transformation
Press
Roma, al Tufello un «tappeto magico» sulla strada per la sicurezza degli studenti (Corriere delle Sera – Roma, April 29, 2025)
Rome’s first “Artistic” school street inaugurated on Via Monte Ruggero (AGR, April 29, 2025)
A work of art on the asphalt: Rome has the first “artistic” school street (Il Faro, April 29, 2025)
«Asphalt art», a Roma parte dal Tufello l’iniziativa americana di colorare le strade per renderle più sicure (Corriere delle Sera – Roma, April 15, 2025)
For inspiration and tips for the creation of art on roadways and public places, download the Bloomberg Associates Asphalt Art Guide which features successful plaza and roadway art activations around the world, as well as key steps for developing such projects.
