Rudan Ye is the founding principal of AICO. Under his leadership, AICO has become one of the pioneers in China's place making design firms. Rudan received his B. Arch. degree from Tsinghua University and M. Arch. degree from UT Austin. He is a licensed architect in the state of Texas and a member of AIA. With more than two decades of experiences, Rudan has rooted his practice taking on challenges and opportunities presented by extremely high-density urbanization typology in China. He is committed to enrich urban lifestyles through innovative design in mixed-use complexes, transit-oriented developments, next-generation retail places, and adaptive reuse projects. His work has created unique urban destinations and vibrant public spaces. In addition to daily design practice, Rudan also actively engages in research collaborations with prestigious architectural schools both in China and abroad, with particular focus on future trend studies. He has published three books in recent years on topics of TOD and the regeneration of urban public spaces.