Q&A: Sumayya Vally on Her Unconventional Vision for the Serpentine Pavilion

The South African designer builds a monument to London’s neighborhood gathering places.

Jul 13, 2021 - 21:17

Q&A: Sumayya Vally on Her Unconventional Vision for the Serpentine Pavilion

The South African designer builds a monument to London’s neighborhood gathering places.

This year’s Serpentine Pavilion is looking beyond its leafy spot in Kensington Gardens, in one of London’s most exclusive neighborhoods, to present a wider view of the city. The 20th edition of the hotly anticipated annual architectural pop-up is under the wing of Johannesburg design practice Counterspace, directed by Sumayya Vally.

Johannesburg firm Counterspace, led by Sumayya Vally, created a collage of disparate architectural elements from around the British capital for this year’s Serpentine Pavilion. "The idea is to present diverse voices and places within London, spaces of gathering, past and present," says Vally.
Image courtesy of Counterspace

The studio’s creation is an amalgam of built forms found in some of London’s gathering spaces with rich stories to tell about Black culture, migrant communities, and fading traditions, places like the Four Aces Club, one of the first venues to play Black music in the United Kingdom, and the East London Mosque, one of the first in the country to be allowed to use loud speakers to broadcast calls to prayer.

In addition to designing the physical structure, Vally used the pavilion commission to establish grants for local creators. "The program will support artists who are working in communities at the intersection of art and ecology, social justice, archival research, and so on," she says.
Image courtesy of Counterspace

Under a uniting circular roof, wide pillars frame a jumble of blocks and small seating platforms modeled on architectural elements from the studio’s sites of interest. It’s a jarring mix of hybrid forms finished in contrasting micro-cement and cork textures.