BUILD Q4 issue

25 Q4 2018 Build 1809BU06 ince their founding in 2012, Studio Link-Arc have created a large body of built work, with five institutional projects completed to date. Our overall goal is to reimagine architecture to reassert its relevance in an increasingly dynamic and global world, one in which boundaries between disciplines, cultures, and countries are rapidly dissolving. Here at Studio Link-Arc, our vision is to create a prominent international practice, with innovative built works across the world. Our goal is for each project to make a positive contribution to its physical and social context. We seek to understand the materiality of our built works in relationship to the larger social and cultural factors that exist in our changing world. However, our work will always be linked to eternal architectural qualities of: space, form, detail, and light. The impact of our built work is tremendous and can be seen in the critical reaction to our projects. The China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015 gained im- mediate worldwide renown for: its innovative form, its uniquely digital design process, and its deep connection to Asian history and culture. Our recently completed NSFL School breaks down the typically closed school typology in favor of a new diagram. Understanding the school as a series of linear rib- bons allowed us to understand the architecture and landscape as equals, al- lowing students, faculty, and visitors to have a multifaceted daily experience despite the school’s dense urban content. Our recently completed CRLand Archive Library maximises a response to a difficult site and creates a civic project that connects the CRLand campus to the city below. Our winning proposal for the Luhu Cultural Center (currently in design) re-stitches city and nature together through its massing, to create a new civic space along a reconstructed waterfront—the architectures heals civic wounds created by clumsy urban and infrastructural development. We have only just started. Our goal is to expand the global reach of our practice to create thoughtful works of architecture across the world. As such, we will continue to use architecture as a tool by which to understand culture and society. Young Practice / Bright Future We are very new practice, one that has created a large body of completed work in a very short time - we have five cultural and institutional projects completed as of this writing, with many others in design and construction. Our works so far have been well received and awarded, with twenty-seven design awards, and two publications focused solely on our projects. We fully expect to expand our reputation and reach in professional and academic circles. We believe that we will go far. Innovative Design Since our 2012 founding, we have designed and built many unique projects across the world, beginning with the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015. Collaborative Nature Studio Link-Arc are an innovative practice that operates at an international scale, with projects and commissions on three continents and two hemispheres. Taking time to provide us with a detailed insight into the dynamic firm following their recent success in BUILD’s Global Excellence 2018 where they were selected as the Future Civic Project of the Year - Luhu Cultural Center, is the firm’s Principal, Yichen Lu who reveals more about Studio Link-Arc’s award-winning services. S This project, built in a very short time with a design team spread across three continents, is defined by a freeform timber structure covered by a layer of parametrically designed bamboo panels. The freeform timber structure was designed and fabricated using a completely digital process in which Link-Arc’s design model was used to confirm the structure, and formed the basis of the fabrication model, allowing the roof structure to be fabricated and installed in a short time. The bamboo panels on top of the roof were de- signed via a completely digital process, which began by programming their geometry directly using Processing. This was followed by an intense opti- misation and rationalisation effort intended to ensure that the panels would closely follow the roof form while streamlining fabrication and construction. Material / Detail / Site The recently completed CRLand Archive Library, located in Shenzhen China, exhibits a multifaceted site response and carefully considered material and detail strategy. Located at the edge of Xiaojingwan University, the project exists between two very contexts: the restrained campus to the west and the vibrant city and ocean to the east. The project responds to this via a series of distinct operations carried out upon a solid mass. Towards the campus, strategic cuts create a dignified entry condition, while on the west, a series of angular slices create a dynamic form visible from the city below. The exterior massing is defined by a handmade grey brick unit, explored in-depth to create different architectural effects, while the interior strategy dematerialises the heaviness of the interior via a carefully considered mate- rial and composition strategy. Boundless Possibility In six short years, we have built an incredible body of work. We have a sea- soned and thoughtful team, and work within a network of strong consultants and collaborators. As far as we can tell, we’re only just getting started. The only path is up. Contact: Yichen Lu Company: Studio Link-Arc Address: 115 West 30th Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10001, USA Web Address: www.link-arc.com