Gold Rush | Syed Fawad Hussain-MSA

Project GOLD RUSH, a retail store, is a celebration of Gold as colour and cultural symbol for the subcontinent. Gold is widely present in the culture of this part of the world. It is not only found in the form of precious metal but also shows its presence in the landscape of this area starting from the colour of the sunshine to the ripened wheat fields to the colour of the desert sand. It even transcends visual culture and enters into the language as well. In fashion, gold jewelry transcends all norms of the conventional fashion sense.  It is part of all types of clothes irrespective of their colours or cuts. Gold requires no matching.

On the other hand, the store design explores gold paper as an architectural interior material that provides the interior with a colour loved by all along with a unique texture. This bold application of gold paper as the interior finishing material gives the store a distinctive presence. Twenty-two thousand gold leaf papers were pasted by hand in this store. Each piece of paper through the hands of the craft persons acquires a unique texture and form. The material palette of the store is kept minimal intentionally so that the gold gets a chance to express itself more profoundly. The loose pieces of paper hanging from the wall while pasting them are left intentionally there with the hope that these pieces, by attaching to the clothes of the visitors, will travel to their homes as reminiscent of their visit to the store. 

Gold has shaped people of this part of the world in many ways as much as they have molded it into their material culture. This very store is also an expression of the association this part of the people has with gold.