IARA was co-founded in Beijing by Jingqiu Zhang and Lubin Liu. It is an international collective integrating design, research, education, curation, organization, and operations. Beyond the foundational making of architectural space, IARA is equally concerned with what lies beyond space — cross-disciplinary dialogues and connective systems.

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We approach design through multiple perspectives and dimensions, redefining the relationship between space and people through interdisciplinary and cross-media methods. Design, for us, becomes a medium that links disciplines, communities, and ways of knowing.

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IARA focuses on the transformations of contemporary urban and rural contexts. We propose a design methodology rooted in Social Realism, asserting that architecture is not merely the construction of form, but a response to social conditions and real-world challenges.

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In the face of urban–rural transition, structural gaps, and ruptured collective memory, we position ourselves within the site of real issues. Through two parallel paths — Infra-Architecture and Reflex Arc — we seek to cultivate a co-evolution between design and society.

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Working across the expanded field of design, we engage through cultural cultivation and public participation, actively intervening in processes of societal change. We aim to explore human-centered approaches to urban and rural development, while mobilizing cross-sector collaboration to bring enduring vitality to built and lived environments.