We are building a space that nurtures lifelong learners and soulful creators to inspire the New Renaissance
A NEW RENAISSANCE
In periods of darkness and catastrophe, humanity bends towards a period of rebirth and new possibility. The Black Plague was followed by the Enlightenment. The Vietnam War with Woodstock and the counterculture movement.
And with Covid-19, we had the chance for an awakening. This is our chance to emerge stronger, more unified, and more optimistic than ever before. We could catalyze the Renaissance of our age.
ALIGNING STARS
Post Covid unconventionality
With the space Covid gave us to re-examine our lives, there is a greater yearning to challenge the status quo and seek stronger potential for ourselves. Consequently, we are witnessing The Great Resignation, the Lie Flat movement, and increased unconventionality with artists, dropouts, young founders, and non-conformists. Not only is 2023 the first true blank slate we have to accelerate these futures we imagined for ourselves amidst Covid, we’re also emerging from catastrophe into a society with radically new institutional and technological paradigms.
Unprecedented Information and technology to create
From the unbridled power of AI to new technological paradigms, the creator in us is more empowered than ever to manifest visions and stir unseen realities to bloom. Creativity and unconventional career streams have emerged within surprising pockets of capitalism. But as our economic systems and institutions reckon with disruptive technologies, we must probe into the role of the human and the values that lead to collective flourishing.
Community to navigate new worlds and ride transitions together
Ultimately, as we emerge into this new world, our belief in the power of community has never been stronger. Within every dynamic society throughout history, community and cultural collision spaces acted as the central points where creators and thinkers converged to catalyze growth, invention, and debate. Today, there is a burgeoning rise in spaces for meaning-making and communities that are aligned in belief or craft. These will serve as foundations to navigating new world shifts.
The Tianye Ge Library brought together philosophers who formulated early Confucian ideals
The library of Alexandria wasn’t just a collector's hold: they had communal dining halls, brainstorming areas, presentation rooms
The Bauhaus Dessau library inspired a design revolution by creating a collision space for students and their ideas
The Acropolis was the central monument that fed Greek culture and community
Ancient India’s Nalanda University was a beacon for traveling scholars across the region
Aristotle and his students used to gather and discuss in the Lyceum library
The oldest recorded library - the Library of Ashurbanipal - propelled the Assyrian Empire's military prowess
The French Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment was born through discussions in Parisian Salons
THE MISSING PIECES
How we might crystalize the new renaissance?
We must embrace our role as explorers
An abundance of information and inspiration means more people have the ability to pursue their passions and do whatever they want in life. But the infrastructure to turn this into self-purpose and actualization is out of reach, and optionality makes it further difficult to identify the “why” or the “what” one should do.
To actualize, we must lower the cultural and physical barriers to exploration. Exploration and freedom to play around with different hats and identities is as important as having the means to pursue these paths. Free-form flow may allow inspiration to strike or may accelerate a transition towards a new focus.
Environments are important
Environments can powerfully facilitate the space for magic. Most environments are not optimized for exploration or play, but the magic is clear when you find ones that do this well: certain thirdspaces, events, and experiences. The people that will drive the renaissance don’t have the right IRL spaces that can help them plant, accelerate, and deepen serendipity and inspiration. We want Verci to be that space.
Intersectionality creates perspective
We see the importance of artists embracing technology and technologists embracing art, and the need for a balance between the two in order to fully understand and unlock the secrets of human potential and consciousness. The movement towards intersectional education is already happening, but we need to build upon this emergence to truly flourish as a species.
Let’s reconsider why and how we create
Since the industrial revolution, our societal ambitions have, more or less, striven for revenue and scale. But the world is moving in a direction where we must move beyond producing for consumption and ignoring all else. We must embrace craft, and imagine creating more soulfully, creating for love, and creating for true impact.
Alternatives must exist to find empowerment during, without, or after college.
College is still a transformative and empowering institution, and we still believe in its ability to help people explore and achieve class mobility. But there need to be alternative, more accessible avenues for individuals to find prosperity, purpose, and community outside this four-year window.
VERCI
Verci ultimately serves as an experiment - what models of education emerge when you bring bright, inquisitive, and creative minds together at the intersection of different fields? How will Verci serve as a new culturally significant institution that is resilient and adaptable to the needs of tomorrow?