Dataland will be the world's first museum of AI arts when it opens at The Grand LA in spring 2026, featuring immersive art experiences that blend human imagination with AI under the artistic direction of Refik Anadol Studio. Olivia Palamountain reports

A new museum dedicated entirely to AI art will open in Los Angeles in spring 2026, promising visitors experiences where machine learning transforms data into immersive visual spectacles.

Dataland, positioned as the world's first museum of AI arts, will launch at The Grand LA, the Frank Gehry-designed development in downtown Los Angeles. The museum will function as both a physical venue and digital ecosystem dedicated to data visualisation and AI-based creativity.

Co-founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkiliç, the museum will unite pioneers across the arts, science, AI research and technology under Anadol's artistic leadership, while acting as a public repository for large-scale, nature-focused datasets and building a comprehensive collection of AI art.

Anadol, born in Istanbul in 1985, is a media artist and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence who teaches at UCLA's Department of Design Media Arts. Erkiliç, born in Istanbul in 1982, is a cultural researcher and artist who has coordinated and showcased multidisciplinary artworks at more than 70 venues worldwide over the past decade.

Anadol says: "Los Angeles is the perfect city to launch Dataland, a forward-thinking, revolutionary museum in support of the fields to which I have dedicated my career: art, science, technology and AI research. LA has long been a city that looks to the future in art, music, cinema, architecture, and more, and it feels natural to open Dataland here.

"To have a permanent space for us to develop a new paradigm of what a museum can be, by fusing human imagination with machine intelligence and the most advanced technologies available, is a realisation of one of my biggest dreams. To do so in a building designed by one of my heroes, Frank Gehry, is almost unbelievable."

The museum will welcome visitors of all backgrounds with experiences utilising machine learning and sensory and visualisation technologies. It will combine online access and learning platforms with its physical exhibitions, and commits to ethical data-gathering and AI practices.

Erkılıç says: "Dataland is a place where human creativity meets innovation, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Our Studio has presented exhibitions in incredible places all around the world, but having a space of our own gives us a blank canvas to work with, allowing us to truly push ourselves to dream without boundaries.

"Dataland will be a place where audiences of all ages are transported to new worlds of discovery, inspiration, and wonder. We are building a visionary museum that redefines learning and community, igniting the human spirit and fuelling a journey into the beauty of our collective memories – the world of data."

The Grand LA is located directly opposite Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall, where in 2018 Refik Anadol Studio presented WDCH Dreams, celebrating the Los Angeles Philharmonic's centennial. The project used 42 large-scale projectors to create nightly live performances featuring machine interpretations of the LA Phil's 100 years of digitised memories, mapped onto the building's stainless-steel exterior.

Dataland sits within walking distance of The Broad, MOCA, The Music Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, REDCAT and The Colburn School in Los Angeles' cultural corridor. The Grand LA, developed by Related Companies, is home to the 305-room Conrad Los Angeles, more than 436 residences including affordable housing, and will feature chef-driven restaurants, shops and art-driven experiences anchored by Dataland.

Recent presentations from Refik Anadol Studio include 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 building in Barcelona, Living Archive: Nature at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Echoes of the Earth at London's Serpentine Galleries, and Living Arena at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

In 2023, Unsupervised, presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, attracted nearly three million visitors in one year. The Washington Post described it as an "early masterpiece of AI-generated art". The work was acquired into MoMA's permanent collection, with Anadol becoming the first artist to have a generative AI piece added to the museum's collection.

Dataland is designed in collaboration with architecture firm Gensler and sustainable development consultancy Arup. The inaugural exhibitions will feature Refik Anadol Studio's Large Nature Model, described as the world's first open-source AI model based solely on nature data.