FreiOtto

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FreiPaulOtto(German:[fato]31May1925
9March2015)wasaGermanarchitectandstructural
engineernotedforhisuseoflightweightstructures,in
particulartensileandmembranestructures,including
theroofoftheOlympicStadiuminMunichforthe
1972SummerOlympics.

Born

FreiPaulOtto
31May1925
Siegmar,Germany

Died

OttowontheRIBARoyalGoldMedalin2006and
wasawardedthePritzkerArchitecturePrizein2015,
shortlybeforehisdeath.

9March2015(aged89)
Warmbronn,Germany

Nationality

German

Occupation

Architect

FreiOtto

Contents
1Earlylife
2Career
3Listofbuildings
4Awards(selected)
5Seealso
6References
7Furtherreading
8Externallinks

Earlylife
OttowasborninSiegmar,Germany,andgrewupinBerlin.He
studiedarchitectureinBerlinbeforebeingdraftedintothe
LuftwaffeasafighterpilotinthelastyearsofWorldWarII.He
wasinternedinaPOWcampnearChartresandwithhisaviation
engineeringtrainingandlackofmaterialandanurgentneedfor
housing,beganexperimentingwithtentsforshelter.[1]Afterthe
warhestudiedbrieflyintheUSandvisitedErichMendelsohn,
MiesvanderRohe,RichardNeutra,andFrankLloydWright.

1972MunichOlympicStadium

Career
HebeganaprivatepracticeinGermanyin1952.Hissaddle
shapedcablenetmusicpavilionattheBundesgartenschau
(FederalGardenExposition)inKasselbroughthimhisfirst
significantattention.Heearnedadoctorateintensioned
constructionsin1954.[1]

Interiorview,WestGermany
Pavilion,Expo67,MontrealCanada

Ottospecialisedinlightweighttensileandmembranestructures,andpioneeredadvancesinstructural
mathematicsandcivilengineering.[1]HefoundedtheInstituteforLightweightStructuresatthe
UniversityofStuttgartin1964andheadedtheinstituteuntilhisretirementasuniversityprofessor.[1]
MajorworksincludetheWestGermanPavilionattheMontrealExpoin1967andtheroofofthe1972
MunichOlympicArena.[2]
Untilhisdeath,Ottoremainedactiveasanarchitectand
engineer,andasconsultanttohisprotgMahmoudBodoRasch
foranumberofprojectsintheMiddleEast.Oneofhismore
recentprojectswashisworkwithShigeruBanontheJapanese
PavilionatExpo2000witharoofstructuremadeentirelyof
paper,andtogetherwithSLRaschGmbHSpecialand
LightweightStructureshedesignedaconvertibleroofforthe
VenezuelanPavilion.[2]Inanefforttomemorialisethe
September11attacksanditsvictimsasearlyas2002,Otto
envisionedthetwofootprintsoftheWorldTradeCenter
buildingscoveredwithwaterandsurroundedbytreeshisplan
includesaworldmapembeddedintheparkwithcountriesatwar
markedwithlightsandacontinuouslyupdatedboardannouncing
thenumberofpeoplekilledinwarfrom11September2001,
onward.[3]

MultihalleinMannheim

Ottodiedon9March2015hewastobepubliclyannouncedas
thewinnerofthe2015PritzkerPrizeon23Marchbuthisdeathmeantthecommitteeannouncedhis
awardon10March.[4][5]Ottohimselfhadbeentoldearlierthathehadwontheprizebytheexecutive
directorofthePritzkerPrize,MarthaThorne.Hewasreportedtohavesaid,"Iveneverdoneanythingto
gainthisprize.Prizewinningisnotthegoalofmylife.Itrytohelppoorpeople,butwhatshallIsay
hereI'mveryhappy."[5]

Listofbuildings
ThisisapartiallistofbuildingsdesignedbyOtto:[5]
1967WestGermanyPavilionatExpo67Montreal
1972RoofforOlympicStadium,Munich
1975Multihalle,Mannheim
1977Umbrellasfor1977PinkFloydtour
1980AviaryatMunichZoo
1985TuwaiqPalace,SaudiArabia,withBuroHappold
2000RoofstructureoftheJapanesePavilionatExpo2000,HanoverGermany(provided
engineeringassistancewithBuroHappoldandarchitecturalcollaborationwithShigeruBan)

Awards(selected)
1974ThomasJeffersonMedalinArchitecture[6]
1980HonorarydoctorateofsciencefromtheUniversityofBath[7]
1996/97WolfPrizeinArchitecture[7]
2005RoyalGoldMedalforarchitecturebyRIBA[8]
2006PraemiumImperialeinArchitecture[2]

2015PritzkerArchitecturePrize[4][5]

Seealso
Gridshell

References
1. "Biography:FreiOtto"(http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2015/biography).TheHyattFoundation.Retrieved
11March2015.
2. "FreiOtto"(http://www.praemiumimperiale.org/en/laureate/laureates/item/43otto).PraemiumImperiale.
Retrieved11March2015.
3. Fong,Mei(11January2002)."FromParkstoTwistedTowers,DesignsforaMemorialMultiply"
(http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1010699739747814200).WallStreetJournal.
4. "FreiOtto,2015Laureate"(http://www.pritzkerprize.com/laureates/2015).PritzkerArchitecturePrize.10
March2015.Retrieved11March2015.
5. PritzkerPrizeforFreiOtto,GermanArchitect,AnnouncedAfterHisDeath
(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/arts/design/freiottogermanarchitectwinspritzkerprize
posthumously.html?_r=0),RobinPogrebin,TheNewYorkTimes,10March2015
6. Cramer,JamesP.Yankopolus,JenniferEvans(2005).AlmanacofArchitecture&Design2006.
GreenwayCommunications,.p.720.ISBN9780975565421.
7. Barnes,MichaelDIckson,Michael(1November2000).WidespanRoofStructures
(https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vp7u0LRgP5YC&pg=PA19).ICEPublishing.p.19.ISBN978
0727728777.
8. Themanwiththegoldenpen(http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=3047276),Building.co.uk,
2005issue08

Furtherreading
ConradRoland:FreiOttoSpannweiten.IdeenundVersuchezumLeichtbau.Ein
WerkstattberichtvonConradRoland.Ullstein,Berlin,Frankfurt/MainundWien1965.
WinfriedNerdinger(Hrsg.):FreiOtto.CompleteWorks.LightweightConstructionNatural
Design.BirkhuserVerlagfrArchitektur,Basel,Boston,Berlin,Architekturmuseumder
TechnischenUniversittMnchen2005,ISBN9783764372316
FreiOtto,BodoRasch:FindingForm:TowardsanArchitectureoftheMinimal,1996,ISBN
3930698668
PhilipDrew,"FreiOttoFormandStructure",1976,ISBN0258970537,ISBN9780258970539
PhilipDrew,"TensileArchitecture",1979,ISBN025897012X,ISBN9780258970126

Externallinks
FreiOtto(http://eng.archinform.net/arch/16.htm)atthe
WikimediaCommonshas
archINFORMdatabase.
mediarelatedtoFreiOtto.
FreiOtto'sofficialwebsite(http://www.freiotto.com)
JapanPavilionExpo2000Abouttheroofstructure
(http://www.designboom.com/history/ban_expo.html)
SLRaschGmbHHomepage(http://www.slrasch.de)
LastrecordedinterviewwithFreiOtto,abouthislifeandreceivingthePritzkerPrize
(http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2015laureatemediakitandphotobooklet)
UncubeNr.33FreiOtto(http://www.uncubemagazine.com/magazine33
15508949.html#!/page1)byuncubemagazine

Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frei_Otto&oldid=675916281"
Categories: 1925births 2015deaths GermanWorldWarIIpilots Germanarchitects
PeoplefromChemnitz Structuralengineers Tensilearchitecture Hightecharchitecture
Tensilemembranestructures WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louisfaculty Studienstiftungalumni
OfficersCrossesoftheOrderofMeritoftheFederalRepublicofGermany
PritzkerArchitecturePrizewinners RecipientsoftheRoyalGoldMedal
WolfPrizeinArtslaureates RecipientsofthePraemiumImperiale 20thcenturyGermanarchitects
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