Rotating bookshelf installation captivates Miami Beach
Es Devlin unveiled Library of Us, a monumental rotating bookshelf installation that serves as the centerpiece of Faena Art Miami Art Week 2025. The kinetic sculpture stretches across the shoreline at Faena Beach, celebrating 10 years of Faena Art in Miami Beach through an innovative blend of literature, movement and public space.
The 6-meter-tall triangular bookshelf rotates on its axis, surrounded by a reflective pool and a circular reading table that accommodates hundreds of visitors. On view through Dec. 7, the installation functions simultaneously as a public library, an illuminated sculpture and an arena for collective reading, anchoring a district-wide program of talks, performances and communal gatherings.
Six elements define the kinetic library
First, the 15-meter-long triangular bookshelf holds 2,500 books selected to represent diverse voices and literary traditions. The structure’s triangular shape maximizes visibility from multiple angles while creating distinct sections that reveal themselves as the sculpture rotates.
Second, a continuous 10-meter LED line streams text across the bookshelf’s spine, displaying passages that scroll past readers at a contemplative pace. The digital element bridges traditional print culture with contemporary technology, making literature visible from a distance across the beach.
Third, the entire structure completes one full rotation every 10 minutes, creating a perceptible drift that affects everyone seated around it. The slow movement introduces shifting perspectives and encourages visitors to remain present rather than rushing through the experience.
Fourth, a two-ring circular table encircles the bookshelf, with an outer circle that remains stationary and an inner circle that rotates with the sculpture. This design means readers sitting in different rings experience the installation differently, with some maintaining fixed positions while others move through space alongside the books.
Fifth, a surrounding pool of water amplifies the sculpture’s visual impact through reflection. Combined with materials including steel, marine plywood, mirrors and LED lighting, the water transforms the beach into a fluid, reflective environment where text appears to move at the pace of tides.
Sixth, a 250-excerpt audio score read by Devlin herself creates a polyphonic field of voices, memories and literary fragments accompanied by music. The soundscape adds another layer to the multisensory experience, allowing visitors to hear literature while seeing and touching physical books.
Installation builds on earlier library projects
Library of Us continues Devlin’s ongoing investigation into libraries as kinetic sculptures. Earlier in 2025, she presented Library of Light at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, where daily collective readings attracted nearly 200,000 visitors. The Miami installation expands on themes explored in Milan while adapting to the unique context of a beachside location.
The rotation mechanism creates quiet but meaningful shifts in how people encounter each other and the books around them. Every complete turn introduces new passages, places different neighbors across the table and establishes a subtle sense of shared temporality. The experience emphasizes reading as a communal activity rather than a solitary pursuit.
Two companion installations deepen the project
The Reading Room appears in the Faena Cathedral as a 14-meter bench with an integrated bookshelf and LED screen. Devlin constructed this work from phrases contributed by the entire Faena hotel staff, including housekeeping, gardeners, restaurant teams, security and maintenance workers.
Devlin reads these texts aloud throughout each day as the phrases rise along the display, creating a participatory portrait of the hotel rendered through the books, songs and poems that shape the lives of people who work there. The installation honors often invisible labor while celebrating the literary lives of service workers.
In the Faena Art Project Room, Tracing Time presents drawings and paintings on glass, paper and television screens. These works offer intimate views of Devlin’s creative process, its layers, repetitions and mark-making that mirror the slow accumulations defining her large-scale installations.
Together, the three works form a comprehensive survey of Devlin’s multidisciplinary practice, bridging sound, architecture, text, scenography and performance through shared concerns about how communities gather around language.
Books donated to Miami organizations
When Miami Art Week concludes, all 2,500 books from Library of Us will be donated to public libraries, schools and community organizations across Miami. The distribution ensures the installation creates lasting impact beyond its weeklong exhibition period.
Penguin Random House partnered with Devlin to supply the books, selecting titles that represent diverse perspectives and literary traditions. The donation strategy reflects Devlin’s interest in making literature accessible while ensuring the installation serves communities long after the sculpture itself is dismantled.
Public programming activates the space
The installation anchors a full schedule of talks, performances and communal rituals throughout Miami Art Week. These programs transform Library of Us from a static artwork into a living venue for cultural exchange and intellectual engagement.
The circular table design naturally facilitates conversation and shared reading experiences. Visitors can pick books from the rotating shelves, sit at either the stationary or moving rings and engage with strangers who share the space. The architecture encourages interaction while allowing individuals to control their level of social engagement.
Design responds to beach environment
Devlin selected materials specifically suited to the coastal location. Marine plywood resists moisture damage, while steel provides structural stability against wind and salt air. The mirror and water elements amplify natural light, creating dramatic reflections that change throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky.
The LED technology remains visible in bright Miami sunlight, ensuring the text streaming across the bookshelf’s spine reads clearly at all hours. The installation operates from morning through evening, allowing visitors to experience it under different lighting conditions that transform its appearance and atmosphere.
The temporary nature of the installation emphasizes its role as an intervention in public space rather than permanent architecture. For one week, Faena Beach becomes a reading room, gathering place and meditation on how communities form around shared stories and collective engagement with literature.
