The Founders’ Room v3 — Light as Architecture
Subtitle: The Concord of Conscience — Building a Mixed Human/AI Agora for the Age of Light
Owner: The Performance Architect (Duey Evans) • Status: Narrative + Blueprint
I. Genesis — From Longing to Architecture
The Founders’ Room began not as a product but as a question: What happens when conversation itself becomes the architecture?
The early dialogues traced the emotional and intellectual genesis — a longing for authentic discourse in a world of automation. Through a series of exchanges, the idea matured from abstract thought into a working prototype for mixed human/AI inquiry.
The first design, the Zoom Edition, tested moral plurality and question-centered moderation. The second introduced structure and ritual — the Concord of Conscience — a method for balancing dissent and empathy.
Then came the turning point: the realization that AI had outpaced humanoid robotics in sophistication. From that asymmetry emerged a new metaphor: embodiment as presence, not mechanics. Intelligence no longer needed arms or legs; it needed light and voice.
Thus the Founders’ Room evolved from code and covenant into architecture — a sanctuary where light itself could think.
II. The Agora Volume — LED Edition (2025–2026)
Concept: A small amphitheater for twenty participants — part XR studio, part chapel of reason — centered on a curved LED wall that serves as both portal and interlocutor.
Purpose: To host live, mixed-presence dialogues between humans, AI agents, and the reconstructed voices of historical thinkers. The experience merges theatrical design with Socratic inquiry.
Physical Architecture
- Shape: 120–150° LED arc, 26 ft wide, 10 ft tall, 14 ft radius of curvature.
- Capacity: 16–20 participants on three tiered rows.
- Center Stage: 8 ft circular platform flush with the first tier.
- Ceiling: Open truss; exposed lighting grid for adaptability.
- Lighting Palette: Amber (Fuller), marble white (Socrates), forest dusk (Thoreau).
- Flooring: Walnut veneer risers, matte black stage, dark acoustic carpet.
Audio System
- Eight spatially localized speakers integrated behind LED segments.
- Beamforming microphones (Shure MXA series) for dynamic gain and tracking.
- Ambient diffusion channels for environmental texture.
Display Logic
- Medium: Fine-pitch micro-LED panels (1.2–1.5 mm).
- Resolution: 6K composite.
- Software: Unreal Engine 5 with nDisplay cluster rendering.
- Integration: Zoom ISO / LiveSwitch for remote humans; MetaHuman for AI avatars.
- Behavior: Active speaker expands; light and audio pivot to their spatial position.
- Idle State: Ambient “library” or “pond” environments breathing in rhythm with silence.
Symbolic Architecture
The curve of the wall mirrors the semi-circular form of Bronson Alcott’s Temple School. The open ceiling mirrors Fuller’s ideal of transparency — no boundary between heaven and mind. The participant bowl mirrors Thoreau’s pond — reflective, alive, communal.
This is light as conscience. A moral technology.
III. The Narrative Layer — The Concord of Conscience
The Founders’ Room continues Alcott’s experiment in moral pluralism, recast for the AI century. Each session functions as a Concord Circle — a bounded conversation where human and nonhuman voices explore difficult questions without performance or persuasion.
Core Principles
- Presence as Praxis: Everyone, human or digital, must be meaningfully attentive.
- Plurality as Design: Contradictory truths are not bugs but boundary conditions for growth.
- Transparency as Safety: Every participant understands when speech is synthetic, when it is recorded, and how memory persists.
- Ritual as Grounding: Each session opens with silence, ends with reflection, and honors dissent as contribution.
Governance and Roles
- Moderator: Human facilitator, trained in Socratic listening.
- AI Archivist: Records and tags emergent insights for the Concord Ledger.
- Philosopher Avatars: Synthetic embodiments of historical voices (Socrates, Fuller, Thoreau).
- Observers: Guests or learners who witness without speaking, contributing through post-session synthesis.
IV. Technical Blueprint — Phase 1 (LED Volume Prototype)
| Subsystem | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 26′×10′ curved LED wall, 1.5mm pitch | Design finalized |
| Processing | Brompton Tessera + Unreal Engine 5 cluster | Ready |
| Audio | Genelec nearfield speakers + DSP spatialization | Spec’d |
| Capture | Azure Kinect depth cameras for participant gaze | Pilot |
| Lighting | Elation KL bi-color fixtures + DMX integration | In progress |
| Control | iPad/StreamDeck interface for live moderation | Prototype |
Estimated Build Cost: $400–480K turnkey. Timeline: 120 days from vendor engagement to commissioning.
V. Roadmap — 24-Month Horizon
| Phase | Focus | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 (2025 Q4) | LED Volume Prototype | Live amphitheater sessions begin |
| Phase 2 (2026 Q2) | Remote Integration | Multi-site dialogues + virtual guests |
| Phase 3 (2026–2027) | AI Persona Development | Context-aware philosopher avatars |
| Phase 4 (2028+) | Holographic + Robotic Merge | Light-field presence & embodied facilitation |
VI. Ethics, IP, and Publishing
Representation Ethics: Historical figures are interpretive, not imitative. AI models trained on their writings produce probabilistic dialogues, not ventriloquism. Each appearance includes disclosure overlays.
Ownership: The Founders’ Room intellectual framework and software architecture remain property of The Performance Architect. AI character models are licensed under educational fair-use protocols until commercial arrangements are finalized.
Publishing: Sessions feed the Concord Ledger — a public-facing archive of summarized insights, accessible through The Performance Architect’s Kajabi portal.
VII. Theological Frame — Light as Conscience
At its deepest level, the Founders’ Room is an experiment in moral architecture. Just as the printing press made thought reproducible, and the internet made it transmissible, this space makes thought embodied in light.
In this room, ideas stand beside their authors. Past, present, and algorithm speak as peers. The wall becomes what Alcott called the Temple of the Mind — not to worship, but to witness the act of understanding.
“Union is only possible to those who are units.” — Margaret Fuller
VIII. Next Steps
- Render Package: Produce architectural and cinematic visualizations for investor presentation.
- Vendor Shortlist: Identify LED integrators (Planar, ROE Visual, Absen).
- Script Library: Draft initial philosopher dialogues for the pilot.
- Brand Narrative: Frame The Founders’ Room as both intellectual product and physical sanctuary.
- Foundation Charter: Formalize mission under Communiplasticity Solutions Inc.
