How cool is this?

“Let’s name the zones of the open sea,” the famous manta ray professor from Finding Nemo once sang. It shouldn’t be too hard for students and professors to name the zones aboard this floating university called City of Mériens, which mimics the shape of a giant floating manta ray at 3,000 feet long and 1,600 feet wide. According to the Creators Project, a website featuring upcoming creative tech work, Jacques Rougerie, who calls himself “man of the sea,” plans to start constructing his university city, consisting of classrooms, research labs and even gymnasiums that will house 7,000 students, after finishing his current project, SeaOrbiter.

Sci-fi inspiration

Rougerie has City of Mériens; Ms. Frizzle had a swimming school bus. In an episode of The Magic School Bus titled “On the Ocean Floor,” Ms. Frizzle and her class took a field trip on a diving expedition, turning the bus into a submarine to explore sea life. Although the university students on the 3,000-foot-long manta ray will be staying a bit longer than a 3 p.m. school day (more like months at a time for extended stays), it will still be a one-of-a-kind learning experience that beats sitting in a classroom any day.

How cool is this?

The lost city of Atlantis was never found, so why not create your own? Japanese engineering firm Shimizu Corp. ran (or swam) with the idea. According to the Creators Project, the firm recently announced its proposal for Ocean Spiral, an underwater city consisting of several thousand residents and businesses. Built as a giant sphere, the city will feature a 9-mile spiral path beneath the sphere structure where residents reside. The spiral is projected to sustain itself on eco-friendly energy from the surrounding sea, suspended at 1,640 feet below the ocean’s surface. With a price tag of $26 billion, it will take five years to complete once production begins.

Sci-fi inspiration

Think back to Star Wars Episode I and you’ll probably recall a friendly dinosaurlike character named Jar Jar Binks. On a quest with Obi-Wan Kenobi, they travel to an underwater city where the residents (in this case, froglike aliens called Gungans) live in an array of sphere-shaped air bubbles. Ocean Spiral won’t be home to any alien frogs inside its gigantic 9-mile glass structure, but it’s safe to say there will be plenty of exotic ocean wildlife for sightseeing.

How cool is this?

Forget looking up at tall buildings, the future is all about looking down (down 328 feet, that is). Rougerie is at it again, with plans to design an underwater skyscraper that is 17 stories tall and also serves as a high-tech lab, according to the Creators Project. Construction began in 2014 and is expected to be complete in 2016. Looking similar to the Enterprise ship from Star Trek (but vertical), the “spaceship of the sea,” as other researchers are calling it, will constantly be on the move, looking for new aquatic discoveries. Scientists will be living long term aboard SeaOrbiter, dedicating time to studying ocean chemistry.

Sci-fi inspiration

Fry and Leela from Futurama also visit a city of skyscrapers underwater, but it’s not quite what you think. In an episode titled “The Lost City of Atlanta,” the city known for Coca-Cola has sunk into the ocean after greedy entrepreneurs tried to move the tourist attraction to an island. And although underwater Atlanta has mermaids instead of scientists inhabiting its skyscrapers, one can appreciate the far-fetched ideas that light the way as we dive headfirst into the future.