The idea behind the sculpture is simple. The 19 metre high corten steel sculpture is designed as a visible beacon for Chatterley Valley that extends the vertical uplift of Goldendale when viewed from road level. The piece makes reference to the natural and industrial heritage of the Goldendale Valley.

Golden can be appreciated up close and from afar. It is more concerned with weightlessness than mass, cascading upwards with a delicate, elegant and almost ethereal energy. Floating arrangements of glass prisms within the design create a sense of movement rising up through the spiral.

The spiral has considerable significance to fundamental principles of geometry and symbolism about transition, growth and evolution. Named after Fibonacci, the Renaissance mathematician who applied the spiral to geometry, it has been described as “the seed within the seed” of the sphere. Within Golden the Fibonacci spiral creates vertical transitions that instil a transcendent affect or a sense of being airborne.

Corten steel patinates to a rich, brown hue suggesting and reflecting the area’s industrial past. This creates a robust enduring finish that changes colour from radiant brown to a deep golden amber depending on the intensity and position of the sun. This material weathers well and needs no maintenance. The sculpture is illuminated from within. Over 1,000 hand blown glass prisms encapsulate an individual memory or wish from the area. These words were hand written by local residents on hand made paper. These wishes and memories were also collated into a document which will be available online.