Journal: Frei Otto - A Life of Research, Construction and Inspiration
Across the world the name Frei Otto is associated with the very idea of lightness, openness, and subtlety. He is one of the most important architects and engineers of the 20th century. The book titled "Frei Otto - a life of research, construction and inspiration" aims to answer why. The personal reasons for Frei Otto's "principle of lightweight construction" are varied and include the need to achieve as much as possible with the few resources available in the postwar era. With great creative energy, he began studies on the topic of tensile roof constructions and matured from an inspired individual to a highly recognized researcher and inspirer. This publication presents his buildings including the Expo-Pavilion in Montreal in 1967, the Olympia structures in Munich in 1972, or the Mannheim Multihall gridshell in 1975 (ill. B). The book also features how he continues to influence architecture and structural engineering to this day. With his courtyard roof for the British Museum in London (ill. A), Norman Foster adopts the idea of the Mann-heim gridshell. For Foster, Frei Otto is "an inspiration" whose sensitivity, intelligence and vision determined how architecture is envisioned in the 21st century. This book offers insight on the most important aspects of Frei Otto's work, his quest for natural forms of construction, and his research on form finding and self-formation processes. It becomes clear that he contributed to the very foundations of sustainable, resource-saving and energy efficient construction decades before these topics became aware to the broad public.
