13/05/2026
📣 We are honoured to announce that Sumayya Vally is joining The Showroom’s Board of Trustees.
Sumayya Vally (b. 1990, South Africa) is the principal of architecture and research practice, Counterspace. Vally 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 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 honouree, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and Dezeen’s Emerging Architect of the Year 2023, Vally 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.
Sumayya has recently been awarded the Cross Disciplinary Creator medal in the Art Basel Awards 2026, recognising her work as a visionary – shaping the future of art – an important recognition of Sumayya as an architect, artistic director, curator and artist.
We are thrilled to have Sumayya join our board bringing her pioneering creativity and innovative approach, centred around other imaginaries, to help shape and support the future of The Showroom.
Photo by Lou Jasmine, courtesy Counterspace
