Buildings designed with foundations floating in water or on platforms floating in water, rather than on foundations dug into the earth. Examples include houses with foundations on a river bottom constructed so that -- if the water level rises to flood stage -- the house and the foundation will float up with the water level; and various types of buildings constructed on floating platforms or islands in a body of water, such as a lake or sea. The term is also used in some disciplines to refer to very large ships containing the features and construction elements of a building.
