Architect Sumayya Vally and her internationally acclaimed practice Counterspace have unveiled the new Ibraaz Art Space headquarters in London, a groundbreaking cultural institution that reimagines how communities gather, learn, and create together. Located at 93 Mortimer Street in a Grade II listed neo-classical building, the space represents a radical departure from traditional cultural typologies, emphasizing incremental growth and community-driven evolution over static architectural forms.
Designed as "a gathering of gatherings," the headquarters embodies Vally's vision of architecture as an ongoing choreography of space rather than a fixed structure. The project reflects what Vally describes as a "fever-dream speed" of creation, resulting in an approach that is "incremental and alive." As the architect-in-residence of the new Ibraaz space explains, the building will grow and evolve organically in response to how people use and inhabit it, creating a living framework that adapts to its community's needs.
The design draws inspiration from Vally's acclaimed research for the Serpentine Pavilion in 2021, where she traced London's diasporic and migrant gathering places as living archives of belonging. For Ibraaz, she extends this inquiry to Tunisia, the foundation's geography of origin, creating a continuum of cultural practices that transcend geographical borders. The project involved collaborations with Blocksfinj in Beirut and Local Industries in Bethlehem, Palestine, building on the expertise of regional fabricators and craftspeople.
Vally's architectural philosophy centers on typologies of gathering that have sustained communal life across Africa and the Arab world for centuries. "When I was approached to work on the project, I came to think of it as a gathering of gatherings with the architectures of each space drawing from a typology of collective life: oula, maktaba, minassa, majlis," she explains. Each space within the building is named and designed according to these traditional gathering concepts, creating what Vally describes as "infrastructures of the home" within an institutional setting.
The ground floor features the Maktaba (bookshop) and Oula (café) at street level, serving as open invitations to the city and creating an interactive façade that embodies Ibraaz's commitment to openness, generosity, and dialogue. The Majlis, the main exhibition hall, functions equally as a space for assembly and community gathering. These spaces are designed with multiple configurations to accommodate diverse encounters and uses, reflecting the building's adaptive philosophy.
On the lower ground floor, the Minassa serves as a theatre for screenings and musical performances, while the second floor houses Iqra, the library, extending an invitation to engage, read, and reflect. Together, these spaces form what Vally describes as "an interactive and performative façade for Ibraaz," each carrying the essence of its traditional function while serving contemporary cultural needs.
"I love that the spaces at Ibraaz are conceived through the language of the home – a kitchen, a majlis, a prayer room, a library," Vally notes. "The infrastructures of these spaces are designed to host artists' works that, at their core, are also about hosting others." This approach ensures that the very structure of the institution becomes inherently architectural and generous, fostering belonging within institutional spaces.
Curator and Strategic Advisor Shumon Basar emphasizes the radical nature of Ibraaz's approach to architectural transformation. "What's quietly radical about how Ibraaz has engaged Counterspace to transform its new home is that instead of waiting until the entire building is fully altered to welcome the public in, visitors will experience the gradual process of architectural change," he explains. The design is conceived as "sedimentation through time and space," allowing the community to witness and participate in the building's evolution.
The inaugural presentation features Ibrahim Mahama's "Parliament of Ghosts," which transforms the ornately decorated ballroom – now known as the Majlis – with colonial-era Ghanaian floors, shelves, and chairs. This installation exemplifies the complex cultural cartographies that define Ibraaz's mission, embodying connections between Counterspace's Johannesburg roots, the Kamel Lazaar Foundation's ancestral Tunisia, and broader African diasporic experiences.
Vally expresses her excitement about establishing Counterspace's presence within the Ibraaz space, describing it as "a site where the ideas and questions that shape the practice's work can be practiced, tested, and shared in real time." True to the practice's Johannesburg origins, she values being situated in "a space of discourse and community" where cultural memory and contemporary practice intersect.
The project represents a significant milestone in redefining cultural institutions for the 21st century. By embracing flexibility, community input, and gradual transformation, Ibraaz Art Space challenges conventional approaches to cultural architecture. The building will be, in Vally's words, "written by its community," designed to hold gatherings in all their forms – ritual, debate, exchange, and celebration – and allow these encounters to inscribe themselves into the fabric of the space over time.
As Counterspace establishes its London presence within this innovative cultural hub, the project offers a powerful model for how architecture can serve as a bridge between different cultural traditions while creating new forms of belonging and community engagement. The space stands as a testament to Vally's belief that the most powerful institutional spaces are those that foster genuine belonging through generous, adaptive design.
