The map portrays the floor plan of the “Nina Vinchi” Cloister, adjacent to Teatro Grassi, the historic venue of Piccolo Teatro di Milano.

Conventional signs

• The thick solid lines are walls;
• the thin lines outline the open space of the Cloister;
• the wavy lines are curtains;
• the filled raised circles are the columns of the portico;
• the hollow shapes in solid line are the outlines of the stage platform, the control desk, pots, and planters;
• the checkered surface is the seating of the conference area;
• the filled raised areas are areas that are inaccessible to the general public;
• the filled raised squares are the tables of the Piccolo Café & Restaurant;
• the diagonal-striped surfaces are the areas of the Piccolo Café & Restaurant;
• the dotted areas are the toilets; the dotted arrows mark the entrances and exits to/from the building;
• the cross marks the position of this panel.

Exploration
In the upper left corner of the map you will find the words “Chiostro Nina Vinchi” (meaning “‘Nina Vinchi’ Cloister” in Italian) in large print and in braille, while in the upper right corner is the QR Code linking to this guide.

Now place both hands on the lower edge of the map and move your fingers slightly upward. You should be able to identify a raised square in the middle; to its left, a gap in the line running parallel to the lower edge of the panel; and to its right, two dotted shapes. These are the two arrows marking the entrances from Via Rovello, both pointing upward: the one on the left leads to the Cloister, while the one on the right leads to the café.

The gap without an arrow on the left is an emergency exit from the Teatro Grassi foyer, portrayed in another panel, while the raised square in the middle represents an area that is usually not accessible to the public.

If we follow the rightmost arrow in the direction shown by its tip, we will immediately meet some small arrowheads pointing upward, marking the presence of steps. Crossing the smooth surface upward, we will find another group of arrowheads marking one last step before reaching the Cloister. We are here in a small room with several tables, which are not portrayed for the sake of clarity, while on the right (that is, in the corner of the panel) we can identify a diagonally-striped area. This is the theatre café, the Piccolo Café & Restaurant.

Let us now return to the entrance arrow, the one on the left. Move your fingers upward, following the direction of the arrow, through a sort of corridor drawn in thin line marking the beginning of the Cloister, here bordered by a step. Beyond the line on the left, we will immediately find a cross. This marks the position of the panel: we are here, in what we may call the “lower” wing of the Cloister. By moving up beyond the cross, we will find a raised circle: this is a column, and by spreading your fingers to the right and left you will be able to identify other ones.

To the right and left of the thin corridor running across this lower wing, we will find two vertical lines each with a gap in the middle. These are glass walls dividing the side wings of the Cloister, and the gaps correspond to their doors. Let us pass through the one on the left.

We are now in the lower left corner of the Cloister. To the upper left and just below, interrupting the perimeter walls running parallel to the sides of the panel, we find two openings each behind a wavy line. These are curtains which function as dividers for the passages between the Cloister and the theatre foyer, normally accessed through the lower curtain.

Let us return to the open area in the lower left corner of the Cloister and move our fingers slightly upward to find a hollow rectangle, almost a square. This is a stage platform used for press conferences, meetings and other events. From here, if we proceed upward, we will follow the left wing of the Cloister across a checkered surface, marking the seating for this conference area, before finding at the end another hollow rectangle, somewhat narrower, representing the control desk.

To the right of this area, in a vertical layout and parallel to the left wall of the Cloister, we may find a distinctive pattern of raised circles joined by lines, with occasional gaps, and tiny rectangles at the height of the line segments. This represents once again the colonnade of the Cloister: the circles are the columns of the portico, the rectangles are planters placed between one column and the other on the inner side, whereas the lines are the glass panels separating the arches and the Cloister. Where there is a gap in the pattern, there are openings leading into the central open-air space, which is the smooth area roughly in the middle of the panel. The midway opening is an emergency exit.

Along the inside of the Cloister, when following the colonnade, we again find the thin line of the step bordering the open space. There are gaps where ramps are located in correspondence with the entrances.

Let us continue along the pattern of the colonnade with both hands and identify the more-or-less square perimeter of the Cloister. We have already found two wings: the “lower” one, where we physically are, and the “left” one, with the seating area. Following the same principle, we may now retrieve the “upper” wing, in the upper part of the panel. 

Here we will find a number of raised squares grouped in several rows, which are the tables of the Piccolo Café & Restaurant. In the upper right corner there is a diagonally-striped polygon, representing the service areas of the restaurant.

At the top, running parallel to the upper edge of the panel, there is a large polygonal raised area: these are service spaces which are not accessible to the public. A hollow rectangle placed among the tables, narrow and oblong, represents a furniture item that blocks access to this rear area. Along the profile of the colonnade, we will also find some small hollow circles: these are large decorative vases.

Let us now move to the right wing of the Cloister, directly below the diagonally-striped area we have recently identified. We will find the rectangles of more tables, arranged rather more freely than in the upper wing. Continuing straight downward, we will then come across a raised polygon, not accessible to the public, and then a dotted area: these are the toilets, which can be accessed from this side of the Cloister.