Sumayya Vally is the principal of architecture and research studio, 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.

She is the youngest architect commissioned to design London’s Serpentine Pavilion, which explored themes of identity, community, belonging, and gathering. She was also invited to be the Artistic Director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, which marked a pivotal moment in reimagining the definition of Islamic art.

Vally’s practice is in constant conversation with her research and teaching at leading architecture schools, including Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), and UCL’s The Bartlett School of Architecture.