AION is an architectural practice which engages the complexity of built environments with an integral approach. In each project, the studio aims at triggering novel ecologies operating across urban and environmental processes that encompass multiple scales and domains with the objective of achieving a high system performance while generating innovative spatial conditions.
AION perceives architectural form as an expression of creative negotiation between material characteristics, structural pressures, functional requirements, normative prescriptions, socio-political desires, cultural tendencies and environmental dynamics.
We perceive the project not as a representation of preconceived formal ideas but as a learning system which acquires complexity out of the capacity to absorb and process information. Each project gains consistency out of the creative redundancy which offers unexpected functional and formal opportunities that occasionally erupt as pure ornament.
AION initiated its activities in 2005 to become a registered practice based in Siracusa, Italy in 2008. The studio was founded by Andrea Di Stefano (1973, Italy) and Aleksandra Jaeschke (1976, Poland), both graduated from the Architectural Association in London in 2005. In 2013 Andrea became the sole partner.
In parallel to commissioned design projects and feasibility studies, AION runs research initiatives, organises student workshops and contributes to the international debate through lectures and publications.
AION participated in numerous conferences and exhibitions; the studio was present in the Italian Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010 and at the XIII International Biennal de Arquitectura in Buenos Aires in 2011. AION was part of the “ARCHITEKTUR! Stories of contemporary architecture between Italy and Germany”, a conference series held at the MAXXI Museum in Rome in 2012. AION first solo exhibition “Eco-Machines” was hosted by the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw in Poland in 2013.


AWARDS


IAKOV CHERNIKHOV PRIZE 2014
Nomination

EUROPE 40 UNDER 40 2011
European Centre for Architecture Art Design & Urban Studies and Chicago Athenaeum
www.europeanarch.eu

TOP10 Architects Under 40 NEW POLISH BLOOD 2010
www.newitalianblood.com

TOP10 Architects Under 40 NEW ITALIAN BLOOD 2010
www.newitalianblood.com


PUBLICATION

Tecnologías del Ladrillo: Dispositivos, Aparejos, Organizaciones
Archivos de Arquitectura 06, Edición Ciro Najle y Francisco Cadau, 2017

Origami Pavilion
pp. 143-151; in Paper design, edited by A. Acocella, Altralinea Edizioni, Firenze, Italy, 2014

Artificial Biotic Corridors
pp. 67-80; in Wowrzeczka, Boguslaw. Agropolis. Part I. New Atlantis. Architektus, 1(37), Faculty of Architecture, Wroclaw Polytechnic University, Poland, 2014

Dome
in Cupole Per Abitare, edited by L. Alini, Libellula Edizioni, Tricase, Italy, 2012

Dome, cantiere didattico sperimentale
pp. 52-56; in Costruire in Laterizio; N° 146, Marzo/Aprile 2012, Tecniche Nuove, Milan, Italy, 2012

Lost Highway
pp. 24-29; in 30<40; edited by D. Barbarelli, L. Prestinenza Puglisi, F. Trovato; LetteraVentidue Edizioni; Siracusa, Italy, 2012

Cardboard Pavilion – La forza del cartone
Interview with prof. Luigi Alini; pp. 68-69, in Archiline, nr.2/2011; Kore Edizioni, Bologna, Italy, 2011

Studio Aion
in VENTISETTETRENTASETTE Rassegna Internazionale Giovani Architetti Italiani, Shanghai, Roma, Catalogo della Mostra, TreP Ceramiche Editore, Rome, Italy, 2010

Studio Aion
in Paesaggio Urbano, Maggioli Editore, Milan, Italy, 2010

Continuous Laminae
in Contemporary Digital Architecture: Design and Techniques; edited by Dimitris Kottas; Links, Barcelona, Spain, 2010

Caterpillar
p.59; in Design for Architecture, Annual 010 Innovation and Sustainability, Giugiaro Architettura; Cityproject / de Lettera Editore, Milano, Italy, 2010

Campus Urbis & Artificial Biotic Corridors
in Magazyn Green²; N° 3, Wiosna/2010, Swiezym Okiem, Krakow, Poland, 2010

Studio Aion
pp.60-89; in Unplugged Italy; edited by Gennaro Postiglione; LetteraVentidue Edizioni, Siracusa, Italy, 2010

Studio Aion
p.9; in Io Architetto, Studio del mese, nr. 32, Maggio 2010, Editore Font Srl, Milano, Italy, 2010

Studio Aion
in Arhitekton, 10 Under 40 in Italy, nr.4, April/May 2010, Belgrade, Serbia, 2010

Studio Aion
pp. 1-2; in Progetti e Concorsi del Sole24Ore nr. 11, 22-27, Marzo 2010

Campus Urbis, Urban Ganglions
pp. 22-31; in Arch-Manual: Design, Concept, Process, edited by Bruce Q. Lan, AADCU Publications, Beijing, China, 2009

Continuous Laminae
pp. 58-59; in Versatility & Vicissitude, Performance in Morpho-Ecological Design, edited by M. Hensel and A.Menges, AD, John Wiley & Son Ltd, London, UK, 2008

National Library in Prague
pp. 102-108; in Versatility & Vicissitude, Performance in Morpho-Ecological Design, edited by M. Hensel and A.Menges, AD, John Wiley & Son Ltd, London, UK, 2008

Continuous Laminae
pp. 170-183; in Morpho-Ecologies, eds. by M. Hensel and A.Menges, AA Publications, London, UK, 2006

Swells: Skyscraper
in Fast Forward – Hot Spot Brain Cells Architecture Biennale Beijing 2004; ed. N. Leach; Map Book Publishers, London, UK, 2004

Aion: an Eventual Architecture
pp. 66-75; in The Invisibles, Biot(h)ing: Alisa Andrasek; 306090>06: Shifting Infrastructures Journal, March 2004, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, USA, 2004

Aion: an Eventual Architecture
in Spazio Architettura, November 2003, Italy, 2003


LECTURE & CONFERENCE


Computational design to fabrication & creative robotics
PARA/METRO Lab – Laboratorio diffuso per la promozione di processi e strumenti innovativi di produzione del progetto, Urban Center, Siracusa, Italy, 2019

Ripetizioni non-uniformi, ontologia e variazioni
Costruire con il legno – Innovazione sostenibile e risparmio energetico, Facoltà di Architettura, Università di Catania, Siracusa, Italy, 2017

Building Construction and City Development, AION: Andrea Di Stefano
EiABC – Ethiopian Institute of Architecture in Addis Ababa, 2016

Introduzione alla modellazione tridimensionale algoritmica
Lecture Accademia di Design e Arti visive – ABADIR, Catania, Italy, 2016

Strumenti per la parametrizzazione dei processi di design
Lecture Facoltà di Ingegneria Edile-Architettura, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy, 2015

Introduzione alla modellazione tridimensionale programmata e generativa
Lecture Facoltà di Ingegneria Edile-Architettura, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy, 2015

ECO-MACHINES, AION: Andrea Di Stefano, Aleksandra Jaeschke
School of Architecture, University Di Tella in Buenos Aires, 2014

Novel Ecologies
Festival of Good Projects – WrocLOVE Design, Wroclaw, Poland 2013

Processi di Auto-Organizzazione. >Input>Output>Feedback Loop>
In[form]ation Conference, Facoltà di Architettura, Università di Catania, Siracusa, Italy, 2013

ECO-MACHINES, AION: Aleksandra Jaeschke, Andrea Di Stefano
Archi-box, odslona 2
Wroclaw Museum of Architecture, Wroclaw, Poland 2013

Eco-Machines
Crossing Borders – Architecture Days Festival, Cluj Napoca, Romania 2013

Aion
Progetti Automatici Workshop, Facolta di Architettura, Universita di Trieste, Gorizia, Italy 2012

Tecnologie, Studio Aion – Realities United
ARCHITEKTUR! Racconti di architettura contemporanea tra Italia e Germania
YAP MAXXI, Rome, Italy, 2012

Aion
Arcyarchiwzje Conference Series, Lodz, Poland 2012

Aion
Unplugged Italy, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy 2011

Geometry & Functional Organisation
Structural Architectures Workshop, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy 2011

Dome, Cantiere didattico sperimentale
Opening conference, Aula Magna cassa Edile, Siracusa, Italy 2011

Autoche? Autocostruzione!
Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy 2011

Aion
Unplugged Italy, Fondazione Benetton, Treviso, Italy 2011

Material Grammar
Muzeum Architektury, Wroclaw, Poland, AION, 2010

Urban Ecologies, towards a performative urbanism
Cracks in the Concrete Jungle – Urban Ecology Congress, Humboldt-Universitàt, Berlin, Germany, 2010

Material Grammar
Design Attack Festival, Conference, Krakowska Akademia im. Frycza Modrzewskiego, Cracow, Poland, 2010

Grammatica Materiale, Origami Pavilion
Opening Conference, Aula Magna Palazzo Impellizzeri, Siracusa, Italy 2009

Parasites
In-Ombra Conference, Facoltà di Architettura, Università di Catania, Siracusa, Italy, 2009

Aion
Unplugged Italy Conference, Oslo, Norway, 2009

Performative Design
Ecole Speciale d’Architecture, Paris, France, 2008

Performative Design
Facoltà di Architettura, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy, 2008

Programmatic Landscape
Urban Ecologies Symposium, Ecole Speciale d’Architecture, Paris, France, 2008

Urban Ecologies
Urban Ecologies Symposium, Ecole Speciale d’Architecture, Paris, France, 2008

Generative Diagramming
Ecole Speciale d’Architecture, Paris, Naples, Italy, 2008

Architettura del Turismo Culturale
Scuola di Alti Studi in Economia del Turismo Culturale, Cattedra Edoardo Garrone, Siracusa, Italy, 2007

Graphic Computation
AHO School of Architecture, Oslo, Norway, 2007

Material Expressionism
New Approaches to Performance-Oriented Design, Research and Design by OCEAN NORTH
AHO School of Architecture, Oslo, Norway, 2007

Continuous Laminae
New Approaches to Performance-Oriented Design, Research and Design by OCEAN NORTH
AHO School of Architecture, Oslo, Norway, 2007