Studio Link-Arc is an international design team of architects and designers based in New York, founded by architect Yichen Lu in 2012, with branches in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Our name, Link-Arc, refers to the practice's collaborative nature as well as the company's mission, which is to work across disciplines to create strategy and design in the fields of urban planning, architecture, spatial art and landscape. We accomplish this by linking knowledge, resources, and intelligence, from multiple perspectives and diverse backgrounds. Our body of work includes innovative projects at all scales. We see the relationship between architecture and context as an opportunity to create new context, new nature and a new understanding of the world. Through research, we uncover the essential truths unique to each project, and use those truths to create concepts and to shape form. We endeavor to create refined works of architecture. We create spaces that promote contemplation and imagination, and provide quiet satisfaction through the simple act of occupation. We approach each project with an open mind. We work to understand the constraints unique to each project and integrate them into our process, allowing our work to develop in an informed manner. We address societal and cultural issues in our work, which promotes design integrity and the understanding that context extends beyond the physical. Our intellectual approach is based on openness to challenge. We gain strength from diverse cultural backgrounds and contexts and see architecture as a discipline that transcends the pragmatic act of building. We believe that architecture can be an inclusive discipline that rises to the challenges of the current era.