“What we're interested in doing is continuously shifting the media and the medium by which we work. We have very few practice rules; one thing we never do is follow the same project in the same medium, one after the other. We keep shifting”—Joseph Zeal-Henry

Describing the platform Sound Advice, which he co-founded with architect and planner Pooja Agrawal, designer, urbanist and writer Zeal-Henry discussed the ways in which they explore new forms of spatial practice through music during our Summit 2023.

Zeal-Henry and Agrawal develop projects that foreground narratives and culture, which are critical to designing a more progressive and plural urban environment. This process allows them to advocate for and create alternative visions for equitable cities of the future, as a sort of “counter institution” that works as an institutional-type practice.

Zeal-Henry also spoke about the British Pavilion he co-curated at the recently opened Venice Architecture Biennale, which received a special mention from the event’s jury, and how the team decided that “rather than gathering architecture, let's gather people instead.”

“What we've been really interested in doing is dismantling this notion of ‘nation state’, and talking about diaspora more broadly. So out of the five artists we've commissioned, only one was born in the UK. It's always very interesting to have different perspectives, so we commissioned through the work, through their narratives, rather than through their identity, their origins, or where they happen to be born,” he said.

This presentation was recorded live on April 22, 2023 as part of
The World Around Summit 2023 co-presented by The World Around and The Guggenheim Museum.

To find out more about The World Around's programming or to get in touch, visit https://www.theworldaround.com