British artist and designer Es Devlin, internationally acclaimed as a “poet of light,” presents Library of Light, a monumental kinetic installation for Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025, created in collaboration with Pinacoteca di Brera, La Grande Brera, and Feltrinelli, with support from A2A.
Set in the historic Cortile d’Onore of Brera, Library of Light features a giant rotating cylinder, 18 meters in diameter, constructed with a lightweight steel structure and lined with 3,200 illuminated books. The mechanism, powered by a low-speed electric motor, ensures a slow, seamless rotation that continually transforms the courtyard’s atmosphere.
By day, a large tilted mirror, crafted with high-reflectivity coated glass, captures sunlight and redirects it onto the surrounding columns and statues, revealing architectural details previously untouched. By night, an energy-efficient LED lighting system activates, casting intricate moving shadows and turning the courtyard into a silent theatre of reflections.
The installation is accompanied by a soundscape broadcast through discreet directional speakers, featuring readings from Carlo Rovelli and Maria Gaetana Agnesi, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch and Devlin herself, layered with an original composition by Polyphonia and a violin solo from Beethoven’s Concerto Op. 61.
Inspired by Umberto Eco’s words—“Books are the compass of the mind”—Devlin celebrates libraries as vibrant ecosystems of imagination. As she explains:
“I have always experienced libraries as silently intensely vibrant places where minds and imaginations soar, while clutched like kites by their seated bodies. This kinetic sculpture reflects the synaptic connections being forged, the resonances and associations at play within the minds of a temporary community of readers”.
Visitors are invited to browse or donate books, contributing to a growing archive destined to enter Milan’s public library system after the exhibition. The project embraces sustainable practices, from recycled book materials to low-energy technologies.
