The Digital Art Gallery (DAG) of Gorizia: a new European cultural infrastructure

It is not a temporary exhibition or a simple exhibition space, but a permanent structure that transforms an urban place into a continuous and programmable visual environment. Part of GO!2025, European Capital of Culture with Nova Gorica, it combines historical heritage and advanced technology. The tunnel thus becomes a place of experience, proposing a stable European model of future-oriented media-architecture.

photo courtesy Videomobile srl

The permanent digital space: a reconfigurable architectural canvas

The heart of the project is a permanent digital space: a tunnel of about 100 meters entirely covered with high-definition LED walls. The luminous surfaces, totaling almost 1,000 square meters, cover walls and structure, creating an immersive visual environment that completely envelops the public. The innovation is not only in its size, but in the idea: the infrastructure is a reconfigurable platform. The hardware remains fixed and stable, while the content can change over time, adapting to different artists, languages, and narratives. Thus, the DAG can host immersive works and generative installations without physical modifications, ensuring multi-year and multi-artist programming.

photo courtesy Videomobile srl

The inaugural artist: Refik Anadol and the Large Nature Model

The space was inaugurated by Refik Anadol, a Turkish-American artist and media designer internationally renowned for his use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in art. His research explores the relationship between memory, data, and architecture, transforming large archives of information into immersive visual landscapes. For the DAG, he presented Data Tunnel, a work based on the Large Nature Model (LNM), developed by his studio and trained on images, sounds, and environmental data. These are not simple animations, but simulations that re-elaborate data into dynamic forms, generating visual flows inspired by nature in the tunnel and demonstrating the platform's potential.

Technical realization: integration, critical issues, and solutions

The project involves the complete redevelopment of the gallery, transforming it from a simple pedestrian passage into an immersive and multi-sensory digital art experience, called DAG, unique in the world. The realization of the LEDwall, 100 meters long and 9.25 meters wide, for a total surface area of 925 square meters, represents a technical and artisanal achievement of the highest level. With a pixel pitch of 2.5 millimeters (distance between individual LED pixels) and a resolution of 40,000 x 3,700 pixels, the system will offer ultra-high-definition images, completely enveloping visitors in a digital environment of strong visual and emotional impact.

photo courtesy Videomobile srl

The complexity of the project required advanced industrial integration. The installation was carried out by Electron Italia, which was responsible for the electrical and video surveillance systems, in partnership with Videomobile, a company from Fontanafredda (PN) and the LED division of the multinational M-Cube Group, a company born and still present in Trieste, which oversaw the design and construction of the high-impact scenic LED structure. The complexity of the curved structure adhering to the vault for over 100 meters required the perfect integration of technological expertise and Italian craftsmanship, which allowed for the resolution of delicate aspects of architectural and installation adaptation.

The entire infrastructure is composed of 37,000 kg of self-supporting load-bearing structures, independent of the gallery, fixed with 6,000 structural screws and 44,400 connecting screws between cabinets and structure. The system also includes 3,700 LED cabinets, 14,800 boards with nano coating and GOB (Glue on Board) treatment, 34 fiber converters, 267 CAT6 signal cables, 11,000 meters of CAT6 network, 6,000 meters of fiber optic cable, 2,000 meters of power cables from sub-panels to cabinets, 300 meters of electrical conduit, and 300 meters of ventilation duct. 

photo courtesy Videomobile srl

One of the main technical challenges was to ensure visual continuity on a curved and very extended surface. The solution involved accurate digital mapping of the canvas, segmentation into synchronized modules, and the use of processors capable of distributing the image across multiple coordinated 4K streams. The control room is based on dedicated workstations that simultaneously manage twenty high-resolution video signals, reassembled into a single coherent image along the entire development of the tunnel.

Another challenge concerned the stability and durability of the system in a public thoroughfare environment. The LED cabinets were equipped with GOB (Glue-on-Board) protection and specific treatments to increase resistance to impacts, dust, and humidity. Signal distribution was entrusted to a fiber optic backbone, supported by a structured network and integrated ventilation systems for thermal management.

The result is a solid, scalable, and programmable infrastructure: an environment where engineering is not invisible but foundational. The DAG demonstrates how a permanent multimedia architecture can arise from the encounter between artistic skills and advanced technological integration, offering Gorizia a leading role in the European panorama of immersive digital art.