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Sumayya Vally
Sumayya Vally is the principal of architecture and research practice, Counterspace. Her practice is dedicated to articulating expressions of hybrid identities and spaces, with a particular interest in the complex relationships between territories and places. Sumayya is the youngest architect ever commissioned for the Serpentine Pavilion, completed in 2021 and lauded as one of the most radical pavilion designs to shape the commission. She was artistic director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, which marked a pivotal moment in reimagining the definition of Islamic art. A Time100 Next list honoree, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and Dezeen’s Emerging Architect of the Year 2023, Sumayya has been identified as someone who will shape the future of architectural practice and pedagogy. She is honorary professor of practice at The Bartlett School of Architecture, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
“The work that The World Around does is deeply important to me because it creates space for the urgencies of our time…It’s one of the few platforms that understands that the built environment is not just about buildings, but about bodies, rituals, landscapes, and the ways we relate to one another.”