Whoever came up with the proverb "Use your enemy's hand to catch a snake" (apparently Persian in origin) was pretty damn smart. And must've caught a lot of snakes too. Jokes apart, this is exactly what the Dutch have invented in their long quest to ward off the danger of rising tides - a new construction project called "New Water" which has created "The Citadel", an apartment complex completely built on water.

The Citadel, designed by Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio, is built on a floating foundation of heavy concrete and will house 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road to access the complex as well as boat docks. Each unit will have its own garden terrace as well as a view of the lake. The building is designed to float perfectly on the rising and falling water, and makes use of the water to cool itself as it pumped out of submerged pipes. Make that a slash of 25% on your electricity bill as water cooling techniques are far more efficient compared to the ones used by a conventional building on land.

And water surfing maybe just as simple as taking a walk around the block.

Via Inhabitat.