Modern bridges are typically built at least a foot higher than the expected 50-year flood, but that’s not so for this unusual bridge built on the floodplains in the flood-prone Dutch city of Nijmegen. NEXT Architects and H+N+S Landscape Architects designed the Zalige Bridge, a footbridge that becomes partly submerged when the water levels rise, forcing people to use the exposed concrete blocks as stepping-stones to traverse the water. The playful, thought-provoking design exemplifies a Dutch relationship with water as one that embraces seasonal flooding rather than seeks to control it.

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