Model, Poem Pavilion

Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

“My studio team and I conceived the UK Pavilion for the World Expo as a giant, conical, wooden wind instrument. This was the first UK pavilion to be designed by a woman since the Expo’s inception in 1851. It harnessed the breaths of UK multicultural choirs within the choral chamber at its heart, and gathered words donated by each of its 25 million visitors through a machine-learning algorithm, beaming a cumulative collective poem from its LED-laced facade.”

—Es Devlin

Model, made of wood and white materials, of an architectural structure seen from the side. A white rectangle is the base that holds the triangular structure made of horizontal lines. Small figures throughout the model indicate scale.

Es Devlin, Study model, Poem Pavilion
Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Courtesy of Es Devlin

Top view of a model of an architectural structure with a wooden cone form sitting atop a reflective base that has rounded lines.

Es Devlin, Study model, Poem Pavilion
Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Courtesy of Es Devlin

Large-scale structure extending from the exterior of a single-story building toward the viewer. The structure comprises long flat rectangles extending from the smaller building; yellow light glows between each layer. Together the group of extending rectangles form a circle. At the end of each rectangle is a word projected in white.

Installation photograph, Poem Pavilion
Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Courtesy of Es Devlin

White model comprising long flat rectangles extending toward the viewer from a hole in the back wall from which white light glows. Together the group of extending rectangles form a circle. At the end of each rectangle is a word projected in white. A small figure stands beneath the model for scale.

Es Devlin, Model, Poem Pavilion, 3D-printed resin and LED, recreated for exhibition.
Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution

Expressive black-and-white line drawing with horizontal lines organized in a triangular form.

Es Devlin, Study, Poem Pavilion, Graphite on paper.
Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Courtesy of Es Devlin

Detailed black-and-white drawing of a complex structure with long horizontal lines and elements. Handwritten text annotates the drawing.

Es Devlin, Study, Poem Pavilion, Graphite on paper.
Installed 2021–22, UK Pavilion for the World Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Courtesy of Es Devlin

Model, Poem Pavilion

An Atlas of Es Devlin

Your journey so far

All pages

An Infinite Archive

Studio

Iris

Archive Unboxed

Sculptures, Ideas to Forms

Studies, Abel’s Mask

Studies, After Hours Til Dawn

Studies, Bangerz

Studies, Come Home Again

Studies, Electric

Studies, Experience + Innocence

Studies, Flag: Burning

Studies, Forest of Us

Studies, Fundamental

Studies, Hello

Studies, Innocence + Experience

Studies, Legend of the Fall

Studies, Memory Palace

Studies, Mirror Maze

Studies, PoemPortraits

Studies, Sphere

Studies, Unknown Soldier

Studies, Witness

Study, Die Tote Stadt

Study, Don Giovanni

Study, Free Your Mind

Model, Atlas

Model, Betrayal

Model, Don Giovanni

Model, Fundamental

Model, Howie the Rookie

Model, La Caja Mágica / The Seed

Model, Legend of the Fall

Model, Macbeth

Model, Parsifal

Model, The Hunt

Model, The Lehman Trilogy

Sculpture, Songs for Sorrow

Model, Abel’s Mask

Model, Bangerz

Model, Carmen

Model, Chimerica

Model, Compton Super Bowl

Model, Flag: Burning

Model, Hello

Model, Innocence + Experience

Model, Les Troyens

Model, Progress

Model, London Olympics

Study, Dynamic Cube

Study, Perforated Screen

Model, Come Home Again

Model, Five Echoes

Model, Forest of Us

Model, Infinite Library

Model, Memory Palace

Model, Mirror Maze

Model, Please Feed the Lions

Model, Poem Pavilion

Model, Redraw the Edges of Your Self

Model, Room 2022

Model, Your Voices

Model, Zoetrope

Theater in a Box

Films

Book Unbound