COUNTERSPACE

Leading architect Sumayya Vally, Principal of the Johannesburg/London-based studio Counterspace, has won the competition to design the new Asiat-Darse pedestrian bridge in Vilvoorde, Belgium. Counterspace’s response to the brief uncovered the story and legacy of Paul Panda Farnana, one of the most important, yet least acknowledged figures of the city, who epitomises the region’s complex relationships with past and future generations of migrant bodies and communities. Sumayya Vally said: “Vilvoorde is a city celebrated for its diversity. It comprises multiple cultures, identities, and narratives. I was deeply moved to uncover the story of Paul Panda Farnana through our research, which then drove our response to the city’s brief for a pedestrian bridge. Trained as a horticulturist at the Vilvoorde Horticultural School not far from the site, this project will revive Farnana’s legacy by foregrounding the concept on the species explored in his research, alongside water architectures from the Congo.” Vally looked to the water architectures of the Congo as one of the starting points to honour this history. Along the Congo River, fleets of dugout canoes are frequently seen docked alongside one another. As a collective, they form a communal platform, from which trading and gathering can take place. These images form the basis for the proposed Asiat-Darse bridge, itself a place of gathering of travellers, whether commuters or visitors. The bridge is constructed of a series of boats tied together to cross the canal. Each boat is planted with species from Farnana’s horticultural research, creating gardens for reflection. Construction is expected to start in April 2024, with a completion date of December 2025. #AsiatDarse #Counterspace #SumayyaVally #PaulPandaFarnana #Congo #Vilvoorde

“What does it mean to come home, to belong? Home is how we locate ourselves and as much as it is a physical place, we carry it inside us. As a Muslim, this place Awwal Bait, The First House, is ever present inside me as it is for all Muslims. The Kaaba, the Awwal Bait—The Eternal House, has presence in every Muslim home through our rituals. A Muslim community is one that gathers in faith—sharing pain loss, prayer, celebration, memory and imagination. These ingredients of community, gathering and making home have inspired this first Islamic Arts Biennale and our artists have interpreted these themes in myriad ways. From the scale of seeds in the earth to the celestial. We have collapsed distinctions between contemporary and historic works of art to weave each with a lineage. Art, architecture and craft give expression to our presence and the power of a biennale of this nature, in this place, to shape a future from these voices, cannot be overstated. I am deeply grateful to the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, to my colleagues and to our incomparable team for your faith in sharing this vision and to our artists who have dreamed its possibilities. It has been an absolute honour to watch this site become home with you. A home we now invite you to.” — Awwal Bait, Artistically Directed by Sumayya Vally @sumi_v @biennale_sa Held at Jeddah’s Western Hajj Terminal and runs till April 23. #IslamicArtsBiennale #DiriyahBiennaleFoundation #AwwalBait #SumayyaVally #Jeddah #Rituals #Community #Gathering

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena is best known for his innovative social housing solutions that confront problems around rapid urbanisation and inequality. In 2016, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest accolade in architecture. South African architect Sumayya Vally challenges conventional Western principles and celebrates the local textures and traditions of her hometown, Johannesburg. In 2021, she became the youngest architect to design London’s Serpentine Pavilion and is the 2023 Artistic Director of the first Islamic Arts Biennale. In this @aljazeeraenglish episode of @studiobunscripted , Vally and Aravena discuss how architecture is able not only to improve people’s lives but also better reflect who we are. Tap the link in our bio to watch the full discussion. #SumayyaVally #Counterspace #StudioBUnscripted #Architecture

In #Issue05, we explore the contexts where one’s presence is constantly challenged. When we exist within systems of control, creating environments that foster care and reviving everyday acts of comfort becomes essential. Sitting is never neutral when movement is violently forced under oppression. @hayazaru speaks with architectural and design voices from the region and beyond to discuss the ways to sitting. Words: @hayazaru Tap the link in bio to read the full feature 🔗

💫 Principal Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ) is an honouree in the AWITA @awitalondon (Association of Women in the Arts) Honours Leaders in Culture 2026 — 25 women nominated by a global network of art leaders to be recognised at a ceremony at SMAC Venice. Sumayya joins a list of international honourees selected by Nadia Samdani (@nadiasamdani ), Kimberly Drew (@justkimberly ), Melissa Gronlund (@mkgronlund ), Valeria Napoleone, Jessica Silverman (@jessicasilvermangallery ), Lang Xiao, Same Mdluli (@same_mdluli ), Camille Morineau (@camille_morineau ), & Sarah Harrelson (@sarahgharrelson ), in collaboration with the AWITA executive committee. @ayalbakree , @manaldowayan , @alialsenussi , @saraharison , @nanaoforiattaayim , @iwonablazwick1 , @antoniamcarver , @marisalogue_ , @teraduvernay , @maieldib , @madhaddon , @majahoffmann , @candicebhopkins , @sharlenefkhan , @kiran_nadar , @oluremi.onabanjo , @nadiasamdani , @patriziasandrettorerebaudengo , @nespector , @gayane_umerova #Counterspace #AWITA

Congratulations to all the awardees who received a medal in the Art Basel awards 2026, along with our Principal Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ). 🤍 We are profoundly grateful to Art Basel for acknowledging Sumayya and Counterspace's repertoire of works, the ethos of which build upon finding expression for African and Islamic conditions. Thanks to @debellisvincenzo & @njhorowitz , and the jury: Hans Ulrich Obrist (@hansulrichobrist ), Adriano Pedrosa (@adrianopedrosa ), Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (@bonaventurendikung ), Elena Filipovic (@elenaanafilipovic ), Franklin Sermans (@franklinsirmans ), Jessica Morgan, Hoor Al Qasimi (@hooralq ), Philip Tinari (@philiptinari ) and Suhanya Raffel. #artbaselawards #Counterspace

Thank you to the jury of Art Basel (@artbasel ) for awarding Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ) a medal in the category of Cross Disciplinary Creator in the Art Basel Awards 2026, recognising her work as a visionary shaping the future of art. This medal represents a broader recognition of Sumayya as an architect, artistic director, curator and artist. In her work, Sumayya thinks about institutional logics and systems. These intentions are present in projects such her role as Resident Architect at Ibraaz (@ibraazlondon ), and as the youngest commissioned designer of the Serpentine Pavilion in 2020 (@serpentineuk ), in which the architectural thinking and the surrounding programme was driven by the concept of fragments of gathering spaces around London. Sumayya also brought this cross-disciplinary approach to her role as Artistic Director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in 2023 (@biennale_sa ), and as the selected designer of the Asiat-Darse bridge in Vilvoorde, Belgium, for which the legacy of local horticulturalist Paul Panda Farnana Belgium’s colonial past informed the design and pedagogy related to the work. (@horstartsandmusic ) Also pictured above is her installation for Art Basel Qatar, In the Assembly of Lovers, which was commissioned by Wael Shawky (@wael_shawky ) and presented in Feb 2026 (with thanks to @almayassabnthamad ). Other notable works include Sumayya's conceptualisation of the Pavilion and Performances at the Dhaka Art Summit in 2023 (@dhakaartsummit ), and the architectural design for the Tacapae Residency, Gabes. (@tacapaeharvest ) We are profoundly grateful to Art Basel for acknowledging Sumayya and Counterspace's repertoire of works, the ethos of which build upon finding expression for African and Islamic conditions. Thanks to @debellisvincenzo & @njhorowitz , and the jury: Hans Ulrich Obrist (@hansulrichobrist ), Adriano Pedrosa (@adrianopedrosa ), Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (@bonaventurendikung ), Elena Filipovic (@elenaanafilipovic ), Franklin Sermans (@franklinsirmans ), Jessica Morgan, Hoor Al Qasimi (@hooralq ), Philip Tinari (@philiptinari ) and Suhanya Raffel. #artbaselawards #Counterspace

We are honoured that our Principal Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ) is a medallist in the Art Basel Awards 2026 (@artbasel ), recognising her work as a visionary shaping the future of art. Sumayya is among an incredible selection of artists, curators and change makers who have been awarded this prestigious medal. Being awarded this medal represents a broader recognition of the work of Sumayya as cross disciplinary; as an architect, artistic director, curator and artist. Her work and the work of Counterspace spans across a breadth of fields and projects, often evading categorisation as one form of practice. Both woven into and emerging out of her architectural and curatorial practice, Sumayya thinks about institutional logics and systems. These intentions are present in projects such her role as Resident Architect at Ibraaz (@ibraazlondon ), and as the youngest commissioned designer of the Serpentine Pavilion in 2021 (@serpentineuk ), in which the architectural thinking and the surrounding programme and collaborations, was driven by the concept of traces of gathering spaces around London. Sumayya also brought this cross-disciplinary approach to her role as Artistic Director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in 2023 (@biennale_sa ), and as the selected architect of the Asiat-Darse bridge in Vilvoorde, Belgium, (@horstartsandmusic ) for which the legacy of Congolese activist and horticulturalist, Paul Panda Farnana, who hailed from the town, informed the design and pedagogical programme initiated by her design and thinking. We are profoundly grateful to Art Basel for acknowledging Sumayya as having already changed the conversation, and as a catalyst for future transformations as an architect, artistic director, curator and artist. Thanks to @debellisvincenzo & @njhorowitz , and the jury: Hans Ulrich Obrist (@hansulrichobrist ), Adriano Pedrosa (@adrianopedrosa ), Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (@bonaventurendikung ), Elena Filipovic (@elenaanafilipovic ), Franklin Sermans (@franklinsirmans ), Jessica Morgan, Hoor Al Qasimi (@hooralq ), Philip Tinari (@philiptinari ) and Suhanya Raffel. #artbaselawards #Counterspace

Ibraaz, a leading cultural initiative by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation (@kamel_lazaar_foundation ), has officially opened its new headquarters in London. The building is a Grade II-listed neo-classical structure. Counterspace’s design, in conversation with the curatorial team, the founders, artists and visiting community, enters into a dialogue with its history. Instead of unveiling a fully complete transformation, Ibraaz invites visitors into a process of incremental change. On the front left of the Ibraaz façade is Oula café (@oula.london ). Developed with French-Tunisian chef Boutheina Ben Salem (@boutheina.b.salem ), this café reimagines the Oula as a shared surface for ritual and hospitality. Rooted in Tunisian matriarchal foodways, the café will centre community, family rituals, and cultural heritage. A Flock of Keen-eyed and Far-Seeing Magpies (15 Oct 2025 – 6 Sep 2026) is the inaugural library-in-residence in the Iqra space, activated by The Otolith Group (@the_otolith_group ), founded by artists and filmmakers Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun. Conceived as a live artwork, the Library transforms research into public encounters. For over two decades, The Otolith Group has gathered books, journals, records, films, maps, recipes, and catalogues — the intellectual materials that fuel their art-making and thinking across Pan-African and Pan-Asian horizons. Designed in collaboration with Diogo Passarinho Studio (@diogopassarinhostudio ) + RAR.STUDIO (@rar.studio ) the space also features a commissioned wall piece by writer and map maker Moses März (@moses_maerz ), tracing The Otolith Group’s history across 17 constellations orbiting the artists’ film works. The inaugural exhibition in the Majlis space was Ibrahim Mahama’s (@ibrahimmahama3 ) Parliament of Ghosts, curated by Shumon Basar (@shumonbasar ). The current exhibition, Stolen Past by Hrair Sarkissian (@hrair_sarkissian ), was curated by Odessa Warren (@odessawarren_ ), and is open to visit until May 2026. 🔗 Read more on counterspace-studio.com & ibraaz.org 📷 Images by @talie.eigeland @msmrarchitects @olliehammick

Ibraaz's (@ibraazlondon ) new London space — an initiative of the Kamel Lazaar Foundation (@kamel_lazaar_foundation ) — has been internally designed by Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ) & Counterspace in dialogue with the Ibraaz Team, reimagining how architecture can hold memory, ritual and community. The Majlis space, inaugurated by Ibrahim Mahama's (@ibrahimmahama3 ) Parliament of Ghosts, transformed the space into a site of reflection and remembrance through a vast installation constructed from reclaimed materials. Parliament of Ghosts was curated by Shumon Basar (@shumonbasar ). The current exhibition, Hrair Sarkissian's (@hrair_sarkissian ) Stolen Past, invites the viewer to reflect and to mourn the objects looted from the Raqqa museum in Syria by the Islamic State. Curated by Odessa Warren (@odessawarren_ ). Vally is conceptualising the space in dialogue with the works, communities and visitors who enter and gather here, drawing on typologies of gathering that have long-sustained communal life across Africa and the Arab world. 🔗 Read more on counterspace-studio.com & ibraaz.org 📷 Images by @msmrarchitects , @talie.eigeland & @olliehammick 📹 Film by @studiomo.xyz / @stee_van_stark #Counterspace #Ibraaz

🔉"We were thinking about spaces where we don't come in to look at an exhibition, but that we come in to be with an exhibition". — @sumi_v , Resident Architect at Ibraaz's (@ibraazlondon ) new London home. Ibraaz — an initiative of the Kamel Lazaar Foundation (@kamel_lazaar_foundation ) — opened its new London home in October 2025. Rather than a static building, the Ibraaz London space is envisioned as a gathering of gatherings — a living framework that evolves through the ways people inhabit it. Our approach to the incremental design of Ibraaz, in dialogue with the founders, curatorial team and artists, will grow and adapt in response to its community, whether in the Maktaba (Bookshop), Oula (Café), Majlis (Gathering space), Minassa (Performance space), Musalla (Spiritual practice space) or Iqra (Library). 📸 Images included are by @talie.eigeland @olliehammick @studiomo.xyz @msmrarchitects 🔉 Sound taken from 'IBRAAZ — A BRAVE SPACE' by @stee_van_stark / @studiomo.xyz The Maktaba is operated by @burleyfisher and curated by @palfest . 🔗 Read more on counterspace-studio.com & ibraaz.org #Counterspace #Ibraaz

Conceived as a living ground for encounter, rather than a fixed, static structure, In the Assembly of Lovers—by Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ) / Counterspace for Art Basel Qatar (@artbasel )—presents an architecture in flux: each day unfolding into a new configuration, hosting a different assembly, performance, or conversation. Art Basel Qatar took place in Doha from 3—7 Feb 2026 and was curated by Wael Shawky (@wael_shawky ). With thanks to Vincenzo De Bellis (@debellisvincenzo #) & Sheikha AlMayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani (@almayassabnthamad ). Read about In the Assembly of Lovers above, and visit our website via the link in bio for more 🔗 📷 — Image courtesy Art Basel Qatar. #Counterspace #IntheAssemblyofLovers