Creativity Powers Innovation in New Installation at Boston Public Library

LEXICON installation at the Deferrari Hall. Photo by Vikram Valluri

The Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) at MIT, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, and the Boston Public Library, announced today a new installation by designer and engineer Alfonso Parra Rubio with Erik Strand, both researchers at MIT Center for Bits and Atoms. Titled LEXICON, the project centers on a 23 ft suspended installation in Deferrari Hall, the atrium at the center of the Boylston Street building, and is coupled with a free workshop that brings cutting-edge design, fabrication, and creativity into one of the city's most iconic civic spaces, the Central Library in Copley Square.

Created using custom design tools for computerized cutting of folded aluminum sheets to form geometric structural cells rather than traditional construction methods, the large-scale sculpture demonstrates how innovative approaches to design and fabrication can create lighter, stronger, and more sustainable structures.

“The Boston Public Library has always been a place where ideas are meant to be shared and built upon. LEXICON is both a public art and a new materials demonstration project, coupling MIT's research in design and fabrication with our region’s creative industry,” said David Leonard, President of the Boston Public Library. “This work is in the tradition of the McKim Building’s vaulted ceilings, by Rafael Guastavino, themselves a legacy of beauty and geometry-driven architecture and engineering."

LEXICON launches during FAB26 Boston, the international Fab Lab Conference hosted with the Fab Foundation, returning to the movement's birthplace. Born from conversations between MIT's Neil Gershenfeld and Boston civil rights leader Mel King, the Fab Lab movement was established after the founding of the South End Tech Center (SETC) in 1997, which built on King’s conviction that everyone deserves access to the digital tools of innovation. 

This year marks the 22nd edition of the annual Fab Lab Conference & Symposium (July 27–31, 2026). Spanning six days, the conference presents practical and theoretical content for a diverse group of individuals united by a passion for digital fabrication, technology, and innovation. LEXICON honors this legacy by bringing cutting-edge fabrication and design directly into a public space. The installation invites residents and visitors to explore how artists, designers, engineers, and makers are reimagining the future of manufacturing, architecture, and innovation.

CBA's Director Prof. Neil Gershenfeld comments that "We're thrilled to have this opportunity to bring Alfonso's research at the frontiers of aerospace engineering to this spectacular installation at BPL, a few blocks from where the global fab lab movement began. There is a wonderful feedback loop between engineering advances advancing art, and vice versa."

“Too often, research lives in journals or behind the walls of universities. LEXICON shows what's possible when public institutions believe that knowledge belongs to everyone,” said Alfonso Parra Rubio. “My research explores geometry as both a language and a method of making, and it's incredibly rewarding to share that work in one of Boston's great civic spaces.”

The project celebrates Boston's unique position as a global center for education, research and creativity, while making new ideas accessible to everyone.

"Boston is one of the world's great creative and innovative cities. LEXICON is about opening that innovation up to the public,” said Joseph Henry, Chief of Arts & Culture, City of Boston. “It shows how artists, designers and engineers can work together to imagine, prototype and build the future and why creativity is one of the city's greatest economic strengths."

LEXICON reflects the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture's broader vision for Boston's creative economy: connecting artists, makers, and researchers to strengthen the city's innovation ecosystem, create new opportunities for learning, and ensure creativity remains at the heart of Boston's future. 

LEXICON will be on view until November 1. The installation can be viewed during the Library's regular operating hours.

On August 1 from 2-4:30, MIT researchers will lead a free hands-on workshop for all ages exploring geometry, making, and digital fabrication, bringing the concepts behind the artwork directly to the public. For more information on LEXICON and to register for the free workshop, visit:

• https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/6a5fa79acca66c2f00a4f766
•  https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/6a4d02c820e06486019686d4

Additional photos of fabrication and installation can be found here.

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