GAD / PERSON PROFILE
Frei Otto
Frei Otto's interest in lightweight structures developed through glider design and knowledge of thin membranes stretched across frames.
Background & practice
Frei Otto's interest in lightweight structures developed through glider design and knowledge of thin membranes stretched across frames. As a prisoner of war in France, he worked on structures requiring very little material. He returned to architecture studies at the Technical University of Berlin in 1948. His official biography links these experiences to an architecture conceived as lightweight, open to nature and sometimes temporary.
How to read the work
Investigate how membranes and light frames respond to forces, seeking structures that use fewer resources and remain open to natural conditions instead of expressing permanence through mass alone.
Architect and structural experimenter documented in a retrospective biography.
Explore the cited original biography and portfolio for works; no unverified personal project association has been added here.
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