Refik Anadol Studio has announced the opening of DATALAND, the world's first Museum of AI Arts, scheduled to debut in spring 2026 at The Grand LA in downtown Los Angeles. The groundbreaking 25,000-square-foot institution will feature five distinct galleries and serve as a pioneering hub for exploring the creative potential of artificial intelligence and generative systems. Designed in collaboration with architecture firm Gensler and sustainable development consultancy Arup, the museum represents a new model for artistic expression at the dawn of the digital age.
The museum marks a significant homecoming for Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç, who founded Refik Anadol Studio in Los Angeles over a decade ago and have since exhibited their innovative works in more than 80 cities across six continents. DATALAND will be housed within The Grand LA, a Frank Gehry-designed development situated directly across from Gehry's iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, where the studio presented their acclaimed WDCH Dreams project in 2018. That ambitious installation used 42 large-scale projectors to create nightly live performances featuring machine dreams of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 100 years of digitized memories, mapped onto the building's undulating stainless-steel exterior.
The museum's strategic location places it steps away from renowned cultural institutions including The Broad, MOCA, The Music Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, REDCAT, and The Colburn School in Los Angeles' cultural epicenter. The Grand LA, developed by Related Companies, also houses the award-winning 305-room Conrad Los Angeles luxury hotel, more than 436 residences including affordable housing units, and will feature a collection of chef-driven restaurants, shops, and art-driven experiences anchored by DATALAND.
In anticipation of its opening, Refik Anadol Studio has unveiled a first look at Gallery C's Infinity Room, an evolved iteration of one of the studio's most iconic installations. Originally conceived in 2014 at UCLA as Anadol's first immersive data sculpture, the Infinity Room envisioned a future for the Light and Space movement through the lens of media architecture. The work debuted physically in 2015 as a 12-foot by 12-foot mirrored cube animated by undulating black-and-white projections, transforming light into material and data into pigment.
Over the past decade, the Infinity Room has traveled to 35 cities worldwide and been experienced by more than 10 million visitors. The new version at DATALAND incorporates groundbreaking features, including AI-generated scents derived from the studio's Large Nature Model and becomes the first immersive space to employ World Models, an advanced form of generative AI capable of understanding real-world physics and spatial dynamics. This multisensory environment offers visitors a first glimpse into the perspective-altering experiences that will define the Museum of AI Arts.
The opening of DATALAND follows a series of high-profile presentations from Refik Anadol Studio, including Living Paintings at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Los Angeles, Machine Hallucinations at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Living Architecture: Casa Batlló at Antoni Gaudí's famous building in Barcelona, Spain, Living Archive: Nature at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Echoes of the Earth at London's Serpentine Galleries, and Living Arena at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Los Angeles has held a special fascination for Anadol since childhood, beginning when he discovered Ridley Scott's Blade Runner at age eight, which featured a futuristic reimagining of the city. He first arrived in Los Angeles in 2012 to attend a graduate program in Design Media Arts at UCLA, where he has taught for the past ten years. In 2014, Erkılıç joined Anadol in Los Angeles to permanently establish Refik Anadol Studio in the city, and their works have since been exhibited in more than 70 cities across six continents, beloved by millions of devoted fans.
Earlier in 2025, DATALAND introduced its founding digital collection, Biome Lumina, featuring 1,000 unique AI data sculptures that sold out in just 34 minutes, demonstrating the strong market interest in AI-generated art. The inaugural exhibitions at the museum will be powered by the studio's Large Nature Model, described as the world's first open-source AI model trained exclusively on natural data.
In alignment with DATALAND's mission to expand public understanding of artificial intelligence and its creative applications, the museum has announced the launch of its inaugural Artist Residency Program in partnership with Google Arts & Culture. Over six months, three selected artists will explore new frontiers of human-machine collaboration, supported by mentorship, funding, and technical resources. Their projects will culminate in a public showcase at DATALAND, featuring immersive installations, artist talks, and lectures examining AI's evolving role in art and culture, further establishing the museum as a center for innovation in digital arts.
