A Japanese architecture firm, Shimizu, has revealed its plans to build an underwater city that could be finished as early as 2035. The spherical underwater structure, dubbed the Ocean Spiral, is slated to be ginormous at 500 meters in diameter.
Inside the sphere would be hotels, retail outlets and housing for up to 5,000 people. In addition to the residential and commercial aspects of the structure, there are deep sea monitoring stations, a mining rig to extract minerals from the ocean floor, and a facility to monitor seismic activity. A deep-sea gondola will allow for the movement of people from top to bottom.
Carbon dioxide is set to be stored and recycled at an ocean floor facility called the Earth Station.
The Japanese firm states 5 reasons for their development:
- Food – The deep sea offers unlimited potential for fisheries, both in terms of quality and quantity.
- Energy – The deep sea offers unlimited potential for untapped energy.
- Water – The deep sea offers unlimited potential for creating fresh water.
- Carbon Dioxide – The deep sea offers unlimited potential for treating carbon dioxide emissions.
- Natural Resources – The volume of resources available on the sea floor and the in the sea itself is limitless.
Now, while this project seems be on the level of Blade Runner cool, the reasons put forth by the architecture firm for the project are a bit unnerving. There aren't many things on this earth that are "unlimited" and fish certainly isn't one of them.
