Dutch Design Lets Homes Float On the Floodwaters

Dutch Design Lets Homes Float On the Floodwaters
'God created the earth," says an old Dutch saying. "but the Dutch created the Netherlands."

Indeed, precious few nations share the distinction of having forged much of their land from the sea.

After hurricane Katrina flooded the Gulf Coast, many US hydrologists, architects, and city planners looked to "the low countries" for water-wise guidance.

But instead of continuing their prohibitively high-cost war against the sea, some Dutch architects are designing ways to live on, instead of fighting against, the rising tide.

Amphibious housing - structures built on land that rise and fall with the water level - is one of several innovative ideas.

The Netherlands topography resembles that of New Orleans, only on a far grander scale: Some 26 percent of the country lies below sea level.

Much of its land has actually been reclaimed from lakes, bays, and rivers, and is protected by an aging, complex system of dikes (similar to New Orleans levees) and water pumps (think of the famous Dutch windmills).