“Au” examines the shifting value, loss of physicality, and permanence of money. Gold, the world’s once universally accepted alloy, mined and minted for the exchange of goods and services, helped to shape empires across millennia. “Au” imagines a future where the intrinsic value of gold has declined so much that it can serve as a tangible building material. “Au” questions what a bank is in a world that is moving further and further away from physical currencies, towards that of the digital era, in which banks now hold cryptocurrency as a repository of data-based wealth.

Even further, “Au'' questions our own relationship with the physical world. The project converses with one of the world’s largest corporations, as it is situated across the street from Albuquerque’s Amazon fulfillment center. As a company with ubiquitous global presence, Amazon has pioneered a marketplace where many merchants may never touch the goods that they sell, nor the money they tender. “Au'' turns to an inevitable future of digital exchange.

Upon approach, “Au” is a glittering gold arched structure encasing glass that parallels the landscape. This roof is the first of two plays on historic bank vaults. The roof encases a concourse of servers hosting clients' block chain data. Once inside, a smaller vault of stacked 400 troy ounce gold bars, corbelled like bricks, encases a private sanctum where clients can fund, transfer, and mine their crypto accounts. “Au” inverts the traditional architectural vernacular and the operation of financial institutions and envisions a future where money is backed by the intangible.

This project was completed in collaboration with Jamie Diamond.

The Dick Stanley Request