Frei Otto

Frei Otto (31 May 1925 - 9 March 2015) was a German architect and structural engineer, born in Siegmar and died in Leonberg. He is regarded as the leading pioneer of lightweight tensile structures: roofs of cable nets and fabric membranes held in shape by tension rather than by rigid beams and arches.

Research

In 1964 Otto founded the Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart. The institute became a centre for research into lightweight building, combining architecture and engineering.

Key roofs

• West German Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal, designed with Rolf Gutbrod, a tensile tent structure.
• Olympic Park, Munich, 1972: Otto was development consultant to the architects Behnisch & Partner for the acrylic-glass cable-net roofs over the stadium and adjoining arenas.
• Multihalle, Mannheim, 1975.
• Japan Pavilion, Expo 2000, with architect Shigeru Ban: a roof structure made entirely of paper.

The Munich roofs

Munich was Otto's best-known collaboration. Working with Günther Behnisch's office and the engineers Fritz Leonhardt, Wolf Andrä and Jörg Schlaich, he helped develop sweeping canopies of acrylic glass panels stabilised by steel cables. The stadium roof was completed on 21 April 1972, and was the first use of such a tent construction on this scale.

Pritzker Prize

Otto was chosen to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2015. He died on 9 March 2015, shortly before the planned announcement, and the prize was made public on 10 March, earlier than intended, because of his death.

Legacy

Otto's work is closely associated with the development of lightweight tensile and membrane roofs. The aim of enclosing large spaces with very little material connects his work with that of contemporaries such as Buckminster Fuller.