Aurum is a permanent outdoor sculpture serving as the centerpiece of Vantage South End, a mixed-use office, restaurant and retail destination and public park developed by the Spectrum Companies. Evoking themes of nature and shelter, the shade-giving sculpture includes six, 16-foot-wide aluminum composite canopies on 18-foot-high supports that complement the cantilevered and angular lines of Vantage South End’s architecture.

Aurum takes its design cues from the site and from the area’s history. Inspired by the geometric facets of the gold nuggets discovered in the 1800s in the South End’s gold district, Depeña has created an immersive experience with light and shadows cast from the sculpture’s faceted polygonal intersections. Depeña’s ethereal responses to nature, geometry and light were the driving forces for the entire installation. This is emphasized by his choice of the material that has a metallic quality when viewed from one direction and an otherworldly, iridescent blue aura from another perspective.

In addition, Depeña and landscape architects LandDesign developed a plan for the Vantage South End’s sunken courtyard. The space’s geometry and 3d massing overlaps and intertwines with itself via sculpted precast benches. This interplay with form and function where a bench becomes a curb element and the sculpture becomes a shade canopy is a complex play on Depeña’s focus on disciplinary fusion.