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