es devlin's rotating library installation illuminates milan design week

es devlin’s luminous theater of reflection at milan design week

Es Devlin unveils her monumental kinetic installation, Library of Light, in a historic 17th-century courtyard in Milan. As the buzz of Milan Design Week takes over the city, the glowing library is a quiet enclosure that transforms the Cortile d’Onore into a luminous theater of reflection. The work draws inspiration from the Braidense National Library, which sits adjacent to the installation site. As Devlin climbed its towering bookshelves, a quote from Umberto Eco came to mind: ‘Books are the compass of the mind, they point to countless worlds yet to be explored.’ This sentiment anchors the experience of the Library of Light, which places over 3,000 books on illuminated shelves within an 18-meter-wide revolving structure where visitors can stop to read or take part in one its the many cultural programs.

all images by Monica Spezia

library of light gently rotates and interacts with its context

During the day, a mirrored plane set atop the Library of Light captures and redirects sunlight into the corners of the courtyard that are not often exposed to the light. At night, the cylindrical structure becomes a lantern, casting shifting shadows across the colonnades and statues. Voices, including that of actor Benedict Cumberbatch reading from Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time, and Es Devlin herself reciting writings by scholar Maria Gaetana Agnesi, echo through the space, set to a Polyphonia composition featuring Beethoven’s 1806 Violin Concerto.

Agnesi, the only woman represented among the statues in the Cortile, also becomes a key figure in Devlin’s narrative here, as the British artist and designer explains. Known for her pioneering studies on the resonance of light and for a curve famously mistranslated as the ‘Witch of Agnesi,’ Agnesi symbolizes the convergence of intellect, light, and silence that Devlin seeks to bring from the margins to the center.

Library of Light, a monumental kinetic installation

over 3,000 books sit within the monumental installation

The project is also an evolving public archive: all books were selected and donated by Feltrinelli around the theme Thought for Humans, the curatorial thread of this year’s edition of Salone del Mobile which invites reflection on the role of the body in space. Visitors are encouraged to contribute books of their own, which will join the Milan Library System and allow the installation to live on beyond the design fair.

Throughout its run from April 7th–21st, 2025, Library of Light will host a series of events programmed around arts, crafts, and literature, including daily readings ‘recited’ by the library itself. The program opens with a focus on weaving as a mode of cultural storytelling, featuring voices from India — this year’s Salone guest country. On April 9, a literary evening will spotlight Italian writer Walter Siti, with a lecture based on his recent book C’era una volta il corpo. Later, a roundtable moderated by Annalisa Rosso will explore the social and imaginative potential of design, featuring artist Matilde Cassani, set designer Margherita Palli, and architect Luca Cipelletti. The work is commissioned by the Salone del Mobile in collaboration with the Pinacoteca di Brera and Grande Brera with support from Feltrinelli.

set within a historic 17th-century courtyard in Milan