Installation view of Living Architecture: Gehry at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao © Refik Anadol, Bilbao 2025
Artificial intelligence can imagine our world like never before. Media artist Refik Anadol has harnessed its immense power to create immersive installations that redefine what art is and how we interact with it. His new exhibition at the Guggenheim Bilbao continues to push the envelope of what AI-generated art looks like. Titled Living Architecture: Gehry, the show reimagines the work of visionary architect Frank Gehry, the man behind the Guggenheim Bilbao’s design. Using open-access imagery and archival material from Gehry’s architectural projects, Anadol reinterprets them through AI-generated forms. The results are born from Gehry’s work but are often unrecognizable as his own.
Powered by sustainable computing, Anadol incorporated a custom AI model to analyze and interpret Gehry’s work. He began by collecting an array of ethically sourced open-access data, architectural images, and documents related to Gehry’s studio. This provided a rich foundation for the AI training process as it sought to understand the “structural complexity and artistic intent” behind the work. Once trained, Anadol fed the AI images to analyze and learn what the pictures had in common.
The findings create the artwork in Living Architecture: Gehry. Machine learning gleaned the artist’s style and “dreamt” new possibilities. This is also known as “hallucinations,” where the AI perceives something non-existent. In many cases, hallucinations can be harmful, but here, they’re the basis for incredible, ever-evolving imagery that envelopes the viewer in experimental and atmospheric art.
Anadol often describes his artistic approach as “data as pigment,” and it’s on full display in the Guggenheim Bilbao show. Augmenting the visuals is a soundscape by Kerim Karaoglu, itself created with the help of AI; it’s a blend of material recordings captured within the museum itself.
Living Architecture: Gehry is now on view until October 19, 2025.
Media artist Refik Anadol has a new exhibition at the Guggenheim Bilbao that pushes the envelope of what AI-generated art looks like.
Refik Anadol (Photo: Efsun Erkilic)
Titled Living Architecture: Gehry, the show reimagines the work of visionary architect Frank Gehry, the man behind the Guggenheim Bilbao’s design.
Installation view of Living Architecture: Gehry at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao © Refik Anadol, Bilbao 2025
Anadol incorporated a custom AI model to analyze and interpret Gehry’s work.
Installation view of Living Architecture: Gehry at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao © Refik Anadol, Bilbao 2025
The findings create the artwork in Living Architecture: Gehry.
Installation view of Living Architecture: Gehry at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao © Refik Anadol, Bilbao 2025
They’re the basis for incredible, ever-evolving imagery that envelopes the viewer in experimental and atmospheric art.
Installation view of Living Architecture: Gehry at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao © Refik Anadol, Bilbao 2025