British designer Es Devlin has created the Library of the Four Winds, a kinetic installation inside the Temple of the Four Winds, a garden folly on the grounds of the 18th-century country house Castle Howard in North Yorkshire.
The Library of the Four Winds comprises an illuminated, revolving bookshelf located in the centre of the building, displaying 250 books from Devlin’s personal collection with the spines facing inwards.
Developed in collaboration with local firm Stage One, the installation features an oval-shaped bookshelf that rotates above a mirrored base. Consequently, excerpts from selected texts are projected onto the pages as the structure moves through the space.
The exhibition also incorporates a soundscape in which Devlin reads alternating passages. Meanwhile, periods of silence encourage visitors to engage with the projected words and interpret the texts independently.
As a result, the site-specific work transforms the Temple of the Four Winds into a contemplative environment while emphasizing its domed glass roof and gilded ceiling.
“I knew I wanted to do something circular, and it needed to be stretched into an oval so that it respected and responded to the height of the building and was somewhat directional,” Devlin told Dezeen.
Architecture, Literature, and Reflection Shape the Installation
“While a circle sends you around a circumference, an oval has a pointer, and it points you up and down at the same time, into the ceiling and into the reflection of the ceiling,” she continued.
“I also wanted to speak to repetition, not just shelves of books, but each line of the bookshelf is like another line of text, so you read the edges of the pages as a single text.”
Consequently, the installation establishes a dialogue between architecture and literature through movement and reflection. In addition, the mirrored base extends the visual experience by directing attention toward the structure above and the historic interior surrounding it.
The project commemorates the 300th anniversary of the death of architect John Vanbrugh and coincides with the National Year of Reading. Notably, Vanbrugh, a playwright and activist, conceived the Temple of the Four Winds as a retreat for reading and writing.
Outside the building, Devlin designed LED-lit tables displaying additional books chosen for their alignment with Vanbrugh’s values and interests.
“I see a lot of parallels between John Vanbrugh and my own practice. I might consider my own practice to be a practice of everythingism, and of course, that wasn’t unusual in the time of Vanbrugh,” Devlin said.
“It was much more common that you would be considered a multi-hyphenate. There was nothing unusual about being a playwright and an architect.”
Latest Project Extends Devlin’s Exploration of Libraries as Public Art
The exhibition follows Devlin’s earlier library-based installations, including Library of Us in Miami Beach and Library of Light at Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera. However, Library of the Four Winds marks her first entirely indoor library environment.
“This is the first one I’ve done completely indoors, and so it has a sense of shelter. You can come out of the rain, sit inside and read a book. People are very quiet and contemplative in there,” Devlin said of her latest library.
Accordingly, the installation expands Devlin’s ongoing exploration of reading, collective memory, and spatial design. Furthermore, the work highlights how kinetic sculpture, sound, and architecture can converge to create immersive cultural experiences.
Library of the Four Winds is on view at Castle Howard from June 13 to September 27, 2026. Through its rotating form and layered literary references, the installation reimagines the historic folly as a contemporary space for reflection and shared knowledge.