architect Jacque Fresco has been designing cities of the future.

Fresco's structures all derive from a simple form

that fascinated him as a boy.

[Jacque Fresco] When I was about 12 years old I was looking at a gear

on a table, and I saw the 'cities of the future.'

I think all inventions are based upon experiences like that.

I don't think they come out of nowhere.

[Narrator] Fresco believes that civilization will be forced

to colonize the sea, if land becomes uninhabitable.

[Fresco] The Earth can only support so many people, comfortably.

And if the population exceeds the capacity of the land,

we're going to have to move seaward

and build cities throughout the sea.

[Narrator] Working from his Florida studio,

Fresco has spent decades making detailed drawings

of his futuristic ocean cities.

He also builds prototypes,

experimenting continually with new materials.

He even lives in one.

Fresco's even developed plans for transporting the structures out to sea.

They'll be constructed out of modular sections,

assembled on land by robots,

and then towed to their final ocean destinations.

Other structures will be made from high-tech materials called memory metal.

[Fresco] These memory metals can be distorted, twisted,

pulled out of shape,

and then when a certain temperature is provided,

that memory metal goes right back to its original shape.

[Narrator] So buildings made from memory metals

can be compressed into small cubes for towing,

and then, snapped back to size upon arrival.

[Fresco] And almost instantaneously,

you will see a building erected before your eyes,

and no humans working on it at all.

[Narrator] Fresco's vision goes beyond architecture.

He sees his cities as tools for fostering humanistic values.

[Fresco] I feel that environment shapes our values,

the people we know, the people we identify with.

What will drive people in the future?

A world without war, without hatred,

without bigotry, without prejudice.

The future must extend an invitation

for all people to join in,

because the problems affect everybody.

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