IFSCRA was founded in the United States in 1993 by Yonghe Zhang and Lijia Lu. For the past thirty years, IFSCRA has focused on research and methodology, continuously innovating in architectural design. Its projects range from private residences to industrial parks and extend to a wide range of design fields, from stage sets to jewelry. IFSCRA's work has been published in numerous domestic and international architecture and design journals and websites.
FEI Architecture has developed its own understanding of architecture through long-term practice, viewing it as the synchronous design of space, structure, and scenario. Scenario refers to function, use, content, or life, with a greater focus on form. All three have the capacity for formal expression. Form may constitute an independent or unified organizational framework for the three. While space, structure, and scenario have always been core components of architecture, it is only in recent decades, with architects increasingly involved in programming, that these three elements have received more equal attention and deeper integration. The starting point of a project's design may be any one of these three elements, while the other two must be incorporated into the design process as quickly as possible, ensuring they progress in tandem. With this understanding of architecture, FEI Architecture's design practice may begin with a structural system made of a specific material or a pure space; the final design outcome may include physical spaces and/or objects, as well as usage suggestions, similar to a product user manual. In other words, the design team incorporates how people use the design into the design process. This may help explain why Very Architecture, as an architecture studio, continues to venture into other design fields, such as furniture, products, and clothing. In their view, new spaces, new structures, new scenes – or even new lifestyles – can only be born when the contents of the three elements are constantly interconnected.
FCJERUSALEM has gained widespread recognition both domestically and internationally. Their "Slopeside Residential Complex" design in Guangdong won the 1996 PA Progressive Architecture Award, and their Shizilin Clubhouse design won the 2004 WA China Architecture Award and the 2006 BusinessWeek China Design Award. In 2019, they were named one of the world's 100+ best architecture firms by Domus magazine. Their Jishou Art Museum project won the 2020 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Award and the 2020 ArchDaily China Architecture of the Year Award.
IFRA has held numerous solo exhibitions: 1999, Apex Art Gallery, New York; 2002, Harvard University; 2007, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2012, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; 2016, Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art; 2021, Shenzhen Pingshan Art Museum. In 2008, IFRA was invited to create a large-scale installation design for the central courtyard of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. IFRA has also participated in numerous international art and architecture group exhibitions and biennials, including six appearances at the Venice Biennale. Its works, installations, and architectural models are in the permanent collections of institutions such as the V&A Museum in London, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan, the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, OCAT, the Shenzhen Pingshan Art Museum, and M+ in Hong Kong.
