Meet the Media Guru | Around Mobility is a semester of study and research dedicated to the present and future of mobility, co-created by the Giannino Bassetti Foundation and MEET | Fondazione Cariplo, with the support of supported by Repower and Politecnico di Milano.

As Senior Consultant & Project Manager at Bassetti Foundation I designed the initiative together with Francesco Samorè and Maria Grazia Mattei.

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Jeffrey Schnapp and Movability: A Human-Centric Approach to Mobility

Last night, we had the pleasure to host Jeffrey Schnapp, American designer and humanist. Lecturer at Harvard, where he is also co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, for thirty years he has worked at the crossroads of digital humanities, knowledge design and media studies. Schnapp is the Chief Visionary Officer of Piaggio Fast Forward, currently designing the next-generation robotic vehicles.

In his talk, Schnapp introduced the concept of movability,” a term he encountered during his research in the historic Piaggio archives. Originally coined in the 1960s to describe the transformative impact of the Vespa scooter on urban life, “movability” encapsulates a shift from traditional, vehicle-centric mobility to a more human-centered approach. Schnapp emphasized that while automobiles dominated the 20th century, the future of mobility lies in diverse modes that support walking and community engagement.

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Gita and the Reimagining of Urban Movement

Gita, the robotic carrier developed by Piaggio Fast Forward, exemplifies this vision. By aligning autonomous technology with human-scale movement, Gita exemplifies a shift towards mobility solutions that prioritize human interaction, environmental consciousness, and the reclamation of urban spaces for people over vehicles. As Schnapp pointed out, we rarely move through the world empty-handed—Gita supports that load, both literally and symbolically, encouraging a return to slower, more intentional forms of movement. In this sense, it doesn’t replace us—it walks with us.

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The event was held at MUDEC in Milan, providing the perfect backdrop for a discussion merging culture, humanities and technology. Thanks to Jeffrey for his insightful presentation and to all attendees who contributed to this captivating dialogue! 

You can watch the entire event again here, on the website of MEET.

The impeccable photography of the event comes from the camera of Tommaso Correale Santacroce. Complete photo album, available here on the Fondazione Bassetti Flickr account.