JA Projects

Social justice, community and connection shape the output of multidisciplinary practice @ja__projects . In our latest issue, we talk to its founder, east London-born architect @jaydenaali , about projects ranging from the 2025 redesign of Newham’s Queen’s Market to new galleries for the soon-to-open @vam_east . Ali’s studio is filled with reference material, including samples for Camberwell Station Road, a regeneration project designed in collaboration with the local community. Also pictured here is a gold ball that formed part of the exhibition design for ‘Fashioning Masculinities’ at the V&A. In response to a painting by Yinka Shonibare, titled Diary of a Victorian Dandy, JA Projects designed a flamboyant, theatrical display that echoed a billiards room See more at the link in bio and in the May issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands now.⁠ 📸: @tamiaftab 🖊: Ellie Stathaki

Taking on the challenge of framing a wide-ranging, era-hopping exhibition that frankly and fairly confronts the @royalacademyarts own relationship with enslavement, colonialism and imperialism, JA Projects responds to the brief in the opening act of the exhibition. Framed by @jaydenaali ’s in-person encounter with this unnamed figure at the Getty a decade ago, the sculpture becomes the focal point of the exhibition, signalling the inquiry into the unheard voices of black and brown people in the history of Western Art. Within the Central Hall of the Purpose Built 19th Century Galleries of the Royal Academy JA Projects obscures the busts of canonical figures of Western Art history with mirrors for the duration of the exhibition. Both as a challenge to the entrenched power dynamics embedded within the architecture of the gallery but also to invite visitors to look up and reflect their own position within the context of the exhibition and the institution of the RA. Installation view of the ‘Entangled Pasts, 1768–now. Art, Colonialism and Change’ at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (3 February - 28 April 2024). Photo © @thomasadank Lighting @recordlighting

Doors officially opened today to the 18th International Architecture Exhibition at @labiennale  and this year's British Pavilion exhibition #DancingBeforeTheMoon We were thrilled at the news that the #britishpavilion team - curators, artists, commissioner - was awarded a special mention for National Participation #biennalearchitettura2023 The curatorial team’s vision for Dancing Before the Moon was to recognise and uphold the objects and rituals of diaspora communities in the architectural space, while elevating the hands and voices that made them. They selected six UK artists to create an exhibition that gives audiences a chance to imagine different futures – where collaboration, experimentation and equity are prioritised in the planning of space in the UK. Six UK artists were selected to create an exhibition that gives audiences a chance to imagine different futures – where collaboration, experimentation and equity are prioritised in the planning of space in the UK. Photos: @taranwilkhu #DancingBeforeTheMoon #BritishPavilion #VeniceBiennale #LaBiennalediVenezia @britisharts @jaydenaali @mishkk @josephzealhenry @sumitraup @maccollins__ @olaniyi.studio @cyborg_artist @sandrapoulson @nebbiaworks fredwave_ @worldpeaceoscar @britishcouncil @labiennale

Our design rethinks the infrastructure of a contemporary museum – how galleries are designed, assembled and adapted over time, to continuously tell the stories that matter.  — It's been an absolute pleasure to work with the incredible team at the @vameast – especially the amazing Youth Collective – alongside both familiar and new collaborators such as @apracticeforeverydaylife @larryachiampong @studiozna @urgecollective , within the generous building architecture of @odonnell_tuomey The V&A East Museum - now open to the public — Photo/s by @dwp.photo

Dedicated to young adults, the V&A East Museum channels the dynamism of the places where young people already ‘make space’ – a layered, city-like open-plan landscape inspired by the public spaces that connect the surrounding four Olympic boroughs. — It's been an absolute pleasure to work with the incredible team at the @vameast – especially the amazing Youth Collective – alongside both familiar and new collaborators such as @apracticeforeverydaylife @larryachiampong @studiozna @urgecollective , within the generous building architecture of @odonnell_tuomey The V&A East Museum opens to the public from TODAY . — Photo/s by @dwp.photo

The entrances to the Why We Make galleries: portals where objects invite visitors in, and people are encouraged to pause and rest – the ambition to welcome and celebrate the energy of East London's amazing communities. — An ambition developed with @vameast – especially the amazing Youth Collective – alongside both familiar and new collaborators such as @apracticeforeverydaylife @larryachiampong @studiozna @urgecollective , and within the generous building architecture of @odonnell_tuomey The V&A East Museum opens to the public from Saturday April 18th . — Photo/s by @dwp.photo

Not everyday a new major museum opens in London – JA_P scenes from the opening night amongst friends and family! 🩷 Photos by @eric.aydin.barberini

Yesterday, we welcomed the world to V&A East Museum - @vam_east - and a suite of exhibition spaces that offer new perspectives, frame unlikely pairing and pays homage to East London’s unique sense of community, creativity and connection. — It's been an absolute pleasure to work with the incredible team at V&A East – especially the amazing Youth Collective – alongside both familiar and new collaborators such as @apracticeforeverydaylife @larryachiampong @studiozna @urgecollective , within the generous building architecture of @odonnell_tuomey V&A East Museum opens to the public from Saturday April 18th . — Photo/s by @dwp.photo

A hint of things to come when @vam_east opens to the public next week. Our East London team and East London references as featured in this season’s @vamuseum magazine. Love to the best design team in the world (and Bethnal Green) @apracticeforeverydaylife and @larryachiampong

@jaydenaali joined @danthawley @bassmets and Angela Ka Ka Lee ( @haauarchi ) to reflect on 'genius loci' and the relationship between landscape, ground, memory, and material transformation in shaping architecture, design, and making practice. Using the design of @matterandshape as a point of departure, the discussion explored how context acts as a generative force – informing form, atmosphere, and social exchange. Situated within the Jardin des Tuileries, reflections extended to the role of gardens as productive terrains; spaces where ecological systems, civic rituals, and cultural narratives converge. The 2026 talks programme was curated by @danthawley and supported by Monocle on Design. The session was accompanied with a publication produced in collaboration with @studiohugoblanzat . Photos by @mickaelllorca

The retail spaces of @matterandshape are conceived as a flexible spatial system, where a relatively raw material palette of timber and hemp establishes a quiet, grounded setting for the work on show. Designed for easy disassembly, the scenography embraces afterlife and circularity, with elements either returned, reused, or reimagined in collaboration with @ecole_speciale Thanks to: @danthawley @matthieupinet and @wsn.paris for their trust and guidance /// @ceeesk @mickaelllorca @larsbronseth and the @ps.creativeagency for the memories. Core JA Projects design team: @Jaydenaali @abbbybird @zuzia.rostocka @lea_lahaj

The 2026 @matterandshape auditorium draws from the legacy of the Salle du Manège – the former riding school of the Tuileries that, between 1789 and 1798, became the meeting place of France’s post-revolutionary assemblies – an elongated building and terraced chamber that helped shape new modes of socially progressive public exchange. 
This lineage is carried forward through a terraced, 'in-the-round' arrangement that brings audience and speaker into close proximity, framing conversation as a shared act. Constructed in timber and hemp, and anchored by a central cut-out that establishes a direct connection to the ground below, the space channels both the social and material history of the site. — Ref: Louis-Joseph Masquelier, The Legislative Assembly sitting in the Salle du Manège, 10 August 1792. Drawing on paper. 38 × 29 cm. — Thanks to: @danthawley @matthieupinet and @wsn.paris for their trust and guidance /// @ceeesk @mickaelllorca @larsbronseth and the @ps.creativeagency for the memories. Core JA Projects design team: @Jaydenaali @abbbybird @zuzia.rostocka @lea_lahaj