Cosmic Breath sound installation in the musalla @ibraazlondon
Historical and contemporary calls of the adhan from different geographies.
A visit from a couple of weeks ago…
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 🔗
بودكاست كلام في ال/تصميم "من المصائد الصحراوية إلى الخيالات المغتربة".
يُعدّ فن العمارة، في جوهره، أحد السبل التي تبني بها المجتمعات قدرتها على الصمود في وجه تغير المناخ والبيئة، في منطقة الخليج وعلى مستوى العالم.
في هذه الحلقة من "كلام في ال/تصميم"، يناقش حامد بخمسين وعلي إسماعيل كريمي، إلى جانب سمية فالي، وبإدارة عبد الرحمن حمد المانع، كيف يُلبي المعماريون الاحتياجات الإنسانية الأساسية عند تصميم مساكن لمستقبل غامض. ويستكشفون كيف تُشكّل الذاكرة والهوية والتاريخ المُهمَل مساحات الصمود والانتماء والرعاية.
استمعوا إلى البودكاست كاملاً في البايو، حيث يتأملون في تصميم يتجاوز مفهوم المأوى، نحو الكرامة والتواصل وتمكين المجتمعات.
Talks on Design Podcast “From Desert Kites to Diasporic Imaginaries”.
At its core architecture is one of the ways societies build resilience in the face of climate and environmental change, in the Gulf and globally.
In this episode of 'Talks on Design', Hamed Bukhamseen and Ali Ismail Karimi of Civil Architecture, alongside Sumayya Vally of Counterspace and moderated by Abdulrahman Hamad Al Mana discuss how acrhitects address basic human needs when designing for uncertain futures. The explore how memory, identity, and overlooked histories shape spaces of resilience, belonging, and care.
Listen to the full podcast in our bio, as they reflect on designing beyond shelter—toward dignity, connection, and empowered communities.
#liwandesignstudios #podcast #design #resilience #aljournal
1990 doğumlu Güney Afrikalı mimar Sumayya Vally @sumi_v , Counterspace adlı mimarlık ofisinin kurucusu olarak çalışmalarını sürdürüyor. Çalışmaları, mimarlık ile toplumsal hafıza, kimlik ve kültürel temsil arasındaki ilişkileri birlikte ele alan bir çerçevede gelişiyor. Farklı toplulukların mekânsal deneyimlerinden ve tarihsel arka planlarından yararlanılan projelerinde, mekânın fiziksel olduğu kadar kültürel ve anlatısal boyutları da ele alınıyor.
Vally, mimarlığı sosyal ve kültürel bağlamların ifade edilmesine aracılık eden bir alan olarak ele alıyor. Bu yaklaşım, göç, aidiyet ve kolektif hafıza gibi temaların mekânsal karşılıkları üzerinden şekilleniyor.
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South African architect Sumayya Vally, born in 1990, continues her work as the founder of the architectural firm Counterspace. Her work evolves within a framework that explores the relationships between architecture and social memory, identity, and cultural representation. In her projects, which draw on the spatial experiences and historical backgrounds of diverse communities, she addresses not only the physical but also the cultural and narrative dimensions of space.
Vally views architecture as a field that facilitates the expression of social and cultural contexts. This approach is shaped through the spatial manifestations of themes such as migration, belonging, and collective memory.
1,2) Serpentine Pavilion (Londra) 3,4) In the Assembly of Lovers - Art Basel Qatar (Doha, Qatar)
5) Grains of Paradise (Brugge,Belgium)
6) Ibraaz Art Space (Londra)
7) Notting Hill Carnival Pavilion (Londra)
8,9) Asiat-Darse Bridge (Vilvoorde ,Belgium)
#arkitekt #sumayyavally #albüm #architecture #mimarlık
Just peachy 🌸
MSMR worked with @_counterspace to design and deliver the Oula Coffee House at @ibraazlondon
Ibraaz is a dedicated space in Fitzrovia for art, culture, and ideas from the Global Majority 🎨
📸 @chriswhartonphotography
#RetailDesign #OulaCafe #IbraazLondon
🗣️🔈"We have ten different Adhans from across time and space, from different locations."
Watch artist Joe Namy (@joe_namy ) speak about his souns installation Cosmic Breath, which is the inaugural exhibition in our new Musalla space, designed by Counterspace (@_counterspace ). Hear our Architect-in-Residence Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v ) introduce the work and its significance in the space.
🎬 Watch the full video on Youtube via the link in our bio.
Video by Lucy Emms
#Ibraaz #IbraazLondon
Across London and New York City, Sumayya Vally and Somnath Bhatt began the year in dialogue, reflecting on Somnath’s recently concluded solo છાયારાષ્ટ્ર/ Republic of Shadows at the gallery.
They speak about images that precede language, on meaning as something never fully held, and on the act of bringing other worlds into being through one’s own sensibilities. As the discussion unfolds, it turns to dreaming in a moment when hope feels afar — toward imagination not as escape, but as mode of attunement — and toward what it means to make, attentively and insistently, in the present.
The full conversation can be seen on galleryske.com. Link in bio.
With gratitude to @sumi_v for her generosity and time.
تنضمّ سميّة فالي إلى برنامج العمارة والتصميم كمتحدثة ضيفة، لنتحدّث معًا عن كيف يمكن للثقافة والمجتمع أن يؤثّرا في شكل العمارة ودورها.
تُعرف فالي بأسلوبها القائم على البحث والتأمّل، وهي ترى أن العمارة ليست مجرد مبانٍ، بل ترتبط بالذاكرة، وبمن يستخدم هذه المساحات، وبالقصص التي تحملها.
ومن خلال سلسلة من الجلسات، نجمع معماريين ومفكّرين ومبدعين لإعادة التفكير في التصميم، وطرح سؤال بسيط: كيف يمكننا أن نُصمّم ونبني ونشارك المساحات بطرق مختلفة؟
Sumayya Vally joins our Architecture and Design programme as a guest speaker to explore how architecture can be shaped by culture, community, and responsibility.
Known for her research-led, poetic approach, Vally sees architecture as more than buildings. It’s about memory, power, care, and the stories these spaces hold.
Across a series of sessions, we’re bringing together architects, thinkers, and creatives who are rethinking design, asking how we can imagine, build, and share space differently.
✨Ramadan Mubarak from all of us at Ibraaz✨
During this holy month, we are continuing our programme, inviting you to reflect, commune and share experiences.
From the opening of our Musalla, our new space for spiritual practice on 26 Feb with @joe_namy 's Cosmic Breath, to performances from @mauricelouca@ayman.asfour.violinist@parveensabrinakhn & Ilyas Khan and Aïchoucha @khalilepi , we have plenty to offer over the next month.
🔗🎟️ Free tickets for events and more info available via the link in bio.
#Ibraaz #IbraazLondon
In the Assembly of Lovers by Counterspace @_counterspace , recently presented at Art Basel Qatar @artbasel in Doha, unfolded as a living tribute to lost gathering spaces across the Muslim world 🌙. Commissioned for the fair and curated by Wael Shawky @wael_shawky , the installation by Sumayya Vally @sumi_v drew from courtyards, gardens, riverfronts, and majlis traditions, weaving memory and architecture into a collective ground for encounter. Formed from plywood and micro cement, and accompanied by an eight-channel sound work, the space shifted daily, hosting assemblies, performances, and conversations ✨. Rather than a fixed structure, it operated in flux, reminding visitors that architecture is activated by presence, and that gathering remains an act of care, hope, and resistance.
#Counterspace #InTheAssemblyOfLovers #Doha #QatarArchitecture #ArtBaselQatar
#architettura #design #adcCommunity #设计奖 #architektura #建筑学 #DesignAwards #IADA #DesignCompetition #ADCAwards #设计大赛 #InternationalArchitectureDesignAwards #ADCommunity #arquitectura #adc #ADC #architecturalcontest #architecture
✨🗣️ Join us on Sat 28 Feb at 4:00pm for a special conversation between artist Joe Namy (@joe_namy ) and our Architect-in-Residence, Sumayya Vally (@sumi_v@_counterspace ), around sound, space, and spiritual practice, marking the opening of Namy's Cosmic Breath sound installation in our new Musalla.
Originally commissioned by Vally for the first Islamic Arts Biennale in 2023, they will discuss the inspiration and process behind Cosmic Breath. Together, they will reflect on how artistic and sonic practice, as well architecture and design, can create spaces for contemplation and collective experience. From the amplified voices of the adhan spanning continents and centuries to the spaces that hold them, the conversation will explore how creative practice engages with spirituality today.
🔗🎟️ Go to the link in bio to reserve your free ticket.
📷 Image:
Joe Namy, Cosmic Breath, 2023. Installation view at Islamic Arts Biennale 2023. Courtesy of the artist.
#Ibraaz #IbraazLondon
