Ancestral Future initiates a research project exploring possible climate scenarios through the analysis of sensorial and behavioural factors shaping Rome’s public spaces. The studio is conceived as a space open to the city, structured around three core elements: the archive, the open collection and the climate time.

“The archive” gathers observations focused on climatic experiential qualities of public spaces, organised through verbs describing sensorial and behavioural conditions.  

“The open collection” compiles research on sensorial and emotional themes in architecture and contemporary society, serving as a source of consultation and inspiration.

“Climate time” transforms the studio into an immersive sensory environment: the sound of water, reflected light, the breeze, views of the city, and the taste and aroma of a soothing herbal tea combine to create a moment of otium.

The soundscape is developed in collaboration with philosopher and musician Ste Szczepanek, while the herbal tea is created with Sara Levi, head chef of RSFP. 

Mirko Andolina is the winner of the Enel Foundation’s 2026 Italian fellowship in Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture at the American Academy in Rome. His research, ‘Ancestral Future’, explores the relationship between perception, behavior and climate in Rome’s public spaces. He studied at the Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated with a thesis titled Hologramatic Territory, developed in partnership with Harvard University GSD. After teaching at the Politecnico, he worked at the office of Stefano Boeri Architetti in Milan, and at Topotek1 and MML in Berlin. In 2019, he co-founded, with Giulia Pozzi, fabulism, a studio based in Berlin and Bologna. The office operates at the intersection of architecture, landscape and urbanism, developing multiscale projects that respond to climatic, social and ecological changes. Mirko Andolina has been teaching at the University of Kassel, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and at the Hochschule Kaiserslautern-University of Applied Sciences.