Founding Cohort
Join the people founding the city’s first age.
A 3–12 month frontier residency for engineers, researchers, designers, architects, builders, artists, and creators working on the hardest problems in autonomy, manufacturing, governance, architecture, media, and the actual design of daily life — on real land, with a serious cohort, building something that lasts.
What this is.
This is not a volunteer camp. You are not donating labor to someone else’s project. This is not a retreat. You are not here to find yourself. This is not an accelerator. Nobody is pitching on demo day.
This is a frontier residency where a small group of extremely capable people come to build the first layer of a real city — on real land, with real tools, real deadlines, and real consequences.
Why people join.
Because the problems are real and unsolved. Autonomous inspection of 18,000+ acres. Manufacturing systems from raw silica. Governance for a city that does not exist yet. Architecture that has to work in mud, wind, and budget. Software that coordinates a living organism. Media that documents a founding.
Because the land is real. Not a simulation, not a whiteboard exercise, not a hackathon. Eighteen thousand acres on the Cumberland Plateau with rail, water, minerals, and space.
Because the cohort is serious. The selection filter exists specifically to ensure that the people around you are operating at your level or above.
Tracks.
You join the track where your skills matter most. You collaborate across all of them.
Autonomous Systems
Drones, robotics, logistics, sensor networks, inspection, mobility, deployment.
The Kernel
The software layer that helps the city see itself: desires, routing, matching, calendars, mission generation, domain intelligence.
Advanced Manufacturing
Glass, materials, fabrication, additive systems, process design, tooling, production lines.
Architecture
Buildings, streets, public space, spatial grammar, domain centers, interfaces between ritual and industry.
Media
Films, documentation, performance, narrative systems, festival programming, civic memory.
Governance
Rules, rituals, constitutional logic, the human layer where the engine meets the people.
Science
Agriculture, health, education, materials, energy — any domain where a city-scale substrate creates a uniquely powerful testbed.
Construction
Classical and modern building systems, utility deployment, physical substrate, the first permanent structures.
Phase 1 reality
What Phase 1 feels like.
You wake up on a mountain. You eat with the cohort. You walk to your track’s workspace. You build something real before lunch. In the afternoon the tracks cross-pollinate — the construction crew needs the autonomy team’s survey data, the kernel team needs the governance track’s rules, the media team documents what everyone shipped. Weekly contests surface the best work. Seasonal festivals mark what changed.
- •Shared meals
- •Daily work blocks
- •A visible backlog of what the city needs
- •Small but serious labs, workshops, and project rooms
- •Weekly contests
- •Seasonal festivals
- •Real output on real timelines
- •The first enterprises, not the full economy
- •The first rhythm, not the full calendar
Phase 1 is not a polished world. It is the group of people who make the world possible.
What the full city unlocks.
By the time the city is operating at full scale, the people who helped found its first age will be able to walk through places they helped make possible: districts alive with festivals every day, industries that did not exist when they arrived, calendars that pulse across twelve domains, institutions that train the next generations, software that quietly coordinates the whole organism, and a city that feels less like a settlement and more like a living world.
You are not just joining a program. You are arriving early enough to help decide what this thing becomes.
Levels.
Different depths of commitment for different stages of readiness.
| Level | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Founding Fellow | 12 months | Full commitment. You are founding a track. Equity grant eligible. |
| Fellowship | 6–12 months | Deep residency. Lead a major project within a track. Equity grant eligible. |
| Residency | 3–6 months | Standard cohort term. Ship real work on a defined project. |
| Senior Residency | 3–6 months | For experienced professionals. Mentorship role alongside project work. |
| Explorer Residency | 3 months | Short-term immersion. Contribute to one project, evaluate fit for longer commitment. |
What you get.
- •Housing on site for the duration of your residency
- •Shared meals with the cohort
- •Access to labs, workshops, tools, and project rooms
- •A real project with real deadlines and real output
- •A cohort of people selected for ambition, competence, and range
- •Weekly contests and seasonal festivals
- •Founding equity grant where applicable (Founding Fellow and Fellowship levels)
- •A permanent place in the city’s first age
Who this is for.
This is for you if:
- •You have real skills — engineering, research, design, architecture, media, construction, science, governance
- •You want frontier problems, not incremental ones
- •You can commit 3–12 months of focused time
- •You work well with ambitious peers under pressure
- •You want to ship real work that becomes part of something lasting
This is not for you if:
- •You are looking for a wellness retreat or digital detox
- •You want to “explore” without committing to output
- •You need a salary — this is a residency, not employment
- •You are not comfortable with frontier conditions
- •You want someone to tell you what to do every day
Money, terms, and equity.
You are not buying securities. The residency payment covers your housing, meals, workspace access, tools, and participation in the program. It is a program fee, not an investment.
Founding Fellows and Fellowship-level residents may receive equity grants in Build Civilization Inc. as compensation for exceptional contribution. These grants are awarded at the company’s discretion, vest over time, and are subject to the terms of the company’s equity plan.
Residency pricing varies by level and duration. Specific terms are shared after acceptance.
Equity grants, where applicable, are compensation for services rendered during the residency and are not offered as part of a securities offering. The residency program is separate from any investment opportunity described elsewhere on this site.
The next step is your application.
Ten minutes. One 60-second video. We read every application personally.