He began a private practice in Germany in 1952. He earned a doctorate in tensioned constructions in 1954.[1] His saddle-shaped cable-net music pavilion at the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Exposition) in Kassel 1955[2] brought him his first significant attention.
Until his death, Otto remained active as an architect and engineer, and as consultant to his protégéMahmoud Bodo Rasch for a number of projects in the Middle East. One of his more recent projects was his work with Shigeru Ban on the Japanese Pavilion at Expo 2000 with a roof structure made entirely of paper, and together with SL Rasch GmbH Special and Lightweight Structures he designed a convertible roof for the Venezuelan Pavilion.[4] In an effort to memorialise the September 11 attacks and its victims as early as 2002, Otto envisioned the two footprints of the World Trade Center buildings covered with water and surrounded by trees; his plan includes a world map embedded in the park with countries at war marked with lights and a continuously updated board announcing the number of people killed in war from 11 September 2001, onward.[5]
On request of Christoph Ingenhoven, Otto designed the "Light eyes" for Stuttgart 21.[6] – drop-shaped overlights in the park, that descend onto the tracks to support the ceiling.[7][8] Otto remarked in 2010 that the construction should be stopped because of the difficult geology.[9][10]
Otto died on 9 March 2015; he was to be publicly announced as the winner of the 2015 Pritzker Prize on 23 March but his death meant the committee announced his award on 10 March.[11][12] Otto himself had been told earlier that he had won the prize by the executive director of the Pritzker Prize, Martha Thorne. He was reported to have said, "I've never done anything to gain this prize. Prize winning is not the goal of my life. I try to help poor people, but what shall I say here — I'm very happy."[12]
List of buildings
This is a partial list of buildings designed by Otto:[12]
2000 – Roof structure of the Japanese Pavilion at Expo 2000, Hanover Germany (provided engineering assistance with Buro Happold and architectural collaboration with Shigeru Ban)
Interior view, West Germany Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal, Canada
^ a b c d"Biography: Frei Otto". The Hyatt Foundation. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
^Contemporary architects. Muriel Emanuel, Dennis Sharp. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1980. p. 600. ISBN 0-312-16635-4. OCLC 6483421.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Peltason, Ruth; Ong-Yan, Grace (7 November 2017). Architect: The Pritzker Prize Laureates in Their Own Words. Running Press. ISBN 978-0-316-47369-9. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ a b c"Frei Otto". Praemium Imperiale. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
^Fong, Mei (11 January 2002). "From Parks to Twisted Towers, Designs for a Memorial Multiply". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
^"Meilenstein in Stuttgart: Erster Musterkelch wurde betoniert". ingenhoven architects. 18 March 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^Video: Animation. Stuttgart 21 – Ein Bahnhof kommt unter die Erde. Archived 8 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine and pictures: Großprojekt Stuttgart 21: Wie der Bahnhof einmal aussehen soll. Archived 16 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine
^Hans Monath, Andreas Böhme: Bahn soll bei Stuttgart 21 Notbremse ziehen. Archived 29 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^Stuttgart 21-Architekt fordert den sofortigen Baustopp. Archived 20 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ a b"Frei Otto, 2015 Laureate". Pritzker Architecture Prize. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
^Cramer, James P.; Yankopolus, Jennifer Evans (2005). Almanac of Architecture & Design 2006. Greenway Communications. p. 720. ISBN 978-0-9755654-2-1.
^ a bBarnes, Michael; Dickson, Michael (1 November 2000). Widespan Roof Structures. ICE Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7277-2877-7. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
^"Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten BDA". Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten BDA (in German). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^The man with the golden pen, Building.co.uk, 2005 issue 08
Further reading
Conrad Roland: Frei Otto – Spannweiten. Ideen und Versuche zum Leichtbau. Ein Werkstattbericht von Conrad Roland. Ullstein, Berlin, Frankfurt/Main und Wien 1965.
Muriel Emanuel, Dennis Sharp: "Contemporary Architects", New York: St. Martin's Press. 1980. p. 600. ISBN 0-312-16635-4
Frei Otto, Bodo Rasch: Finding Form: Towards an Architecture of the Minimal, 1996, ISBN 3-930698-66-8
Winfried Nerdinger: Frei Otto, Complete Works: Lightweight Construction – Natural Design, 2005, ISBN 3-7643-7231-1, ISBN 978-3-7643-7231-6 - published on the occasion of the exhibition Frei Otto Lightweight Construction, Natural Design at the Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München in der Pinakothek der Moderne from 26 May to 28 August 2005, and cataloguing over 200 buildings and projects dating from the years 1951-2004