AI transforms architecture in Refik Anadol’s Frank Gehry tribute

Refik Anadol’s groundbreaking AI installation at the Guggenheim Bilbao brings architect Frank Gehry’s visionary work to life through generative artificial intelligence. The immersive art piece transforms 65 years of Gehry’s architectural archive into a dynamic, six-chapter AI experience projected onto the museum’s interior walls. This collaboration represents a significant intersection of architecture, artificial intelligence, and art, showcasing how AI can both honor architectural legacy and push creative boundaries in museum settings.

The big picture: Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol has created “Living Architecture: Gehry,” an AI-generated tribute to Frank Gehry projected within the architect’s own iconic Guggenheim Bilbao museum.

• The installation uses a custom-built large architecture model developed from Gehry’s 65-year archive combined with ethically sourced open-source architectural images and Anadol’s nature model.
• The project showcases how architectural data can be transformed into immersive generative art, positioning AI as both an interpretive and creative force in the artistic realm.

How it works: The installation unfolds across six chapters that follow a narrative sequence from data compilation to real-time AI-generated architectural visions.

• The experience begins with a “memory space” of architectural data, followed by pattern recognition, human-machine collaboration, and the emergence of a large architectural model that transforms Gehry’s work.
• The final chapters feature AI hallucinations producing abstract visions and conclude with real-time generation of architectural “dreams.”

Why this matters: The Guggenheim Bilbao’s distinctive architectural spaces provide a unique canvas for Anadol’s AI-generated work, creating a dialogue between the physical building and its digital reimagination.

• The project represents a year of Anadol “dreaming” on Gehry’s life and legacy, emphasizing the 96-year-old architect’s positive impact on the architectural world.
• This installation demonstrates how AI can be used to honor and extend artistic and architectural traditions rather than merely replacing them.

Between the lines: The project reflects a growing trend of AI being embraced by prestigious art institutions as a legitimate artistic medium rather than merely a technological novelty.

• By projecting directly onto Gehry’s architectural surfaces, Anadol creates a meta-experience where the subject of the art becomes both canvas and content.
• The installation suggests a future where architectural history and data become dynamic, evolving resources rather than static archives.