During the project's first phase, the artists worked with the building architect, richärd + bauer, to create a landscaped plaza with specially designed seating outside the library entrance, and four trellises along the sidewalk to the Western Canal. They feature excerpts of poetry by distinguished Arizona poet Alberto Rios. Integrated into the trellis canopies, Rios's poetic couplets appear in cut-out words that cast shadows onto the path, allowing people to read the poems as they walk to and from the library. The artists extended this theme of reading and poetry to the plaza in front of the library by embedding letters in the concrete. Each letter of the alphabet is represented. The artists duplicated ones that spell “desert," “stone," “mountain," and “water" as a game for visitors waiting outside.

The project also included three “Acoustic Chairs," in shapes echoing the angular peaks of nearby South Mountain. The chairs were designed with audio speakers that play recordings of poetry curated by Rios whenever someone sits and activates a motion sensor.

The project's second phase included the addition of a bridge across the Western Canal.

Additional Credits: 

Poetry Recording: Bill Shedd, KJZZ
Featured Arizona Poets
Dick Bakken, Jefferson Carter, Jeanne E. Clark, Ralph Cordova, Cynthia Hogue, Will Inman, Sydney James, Susan L. Krevitsky Law, Jimmy Lo, Rick Noguchi, Fernando Pérez, David Ray, Christine Rhein, Iliana Rocha, Lois Roma-Deeley, Jana Russ, Peggy Shumaker, David Sullivan, and Olfelia Zepeda
Fabrication: Brian Stevenson, Hammercraft
Audio Production: Rob Pemberton and Parsons Audio 
Audio Installation: Patrick Hoffman​