Doug Aitken's new art installation Mirage Detroit has opened in the once-abandoned State Savings Bank, a century-old Beaux-Arts building in downtown Detroit that has sat empty for decades. 

Aitken's latest work brings back his much beloved project for Desert X, which saw a reflective suburban home plopped into the Coachella Valley desert. For the city of Detroit, the art world giant has taken this ranch-style home, given it a perfected mirrored surface, and placed it in the decorative interiors of the old bank. 

Covered in hundreds of pieces of mirrors, the large sculpture reflects the Roman arched colonnades and bronze flourishes of its architectural surroundings. A light show choreographed by longtime Radiohead set designer Andi Watson further illuminates the piece. 

For the opening, which kicks off this evening, Jonsi of Icelandic band Sigur Rós will provide the soundscape. Other events are scheduled for the duration of the sculpture's four month stay.

This project is a collaboration between Aitken and the art gallery Library Street Collective, with funding from the Quicken Loans Community Fund and Bedrock Real Estate. The Property company, who bought the building in 2014 without specific plans, regularly uses art to draw attention to their array of property holdings.

Aitken hopes the project can activate the urban space and bring life back to the building that has long been closed off to the public. The artist told the Detroit Free Press that the artwork itself is a way of bringing the public in. "It’s a way of sharing this building, which might not have happened if we didn’t do this project," he said.