FREI OTTO(31 May 1925- )

German architect and structural engineer.

LIFE• Began experimenting with tents for shelter• After the war he studied briefly in the United States• Visited Erich Mendelsohn, Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra, and Frank Lloyd

Wright• Began private practice in Germany in 1952

• Awards

FREI OTTO

1974 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture1996/7 Wolf Prize in Architecture2005 RIBA Royal Gold Medal

Style …….• authority on lightweight tensile and membrane structures• concerned with space frames and structural efficiency• experimented with inflatable buildings

structure constructed using two layers of membrane connected togethercavity formed between the layers is pressurized with air producing a rigid

structural element pavilions, airships, furniture, airspace structures, boats, escape slides,

security mattresses, swimming pools, coverings, games and castles, air bags

FREI OTTO

Academics….

• Otto founded the famous Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart in 1964

FREI OTTO

List of Buildings

• 1967 - West Germany Pavilion at Expo 67 Montreal• 1970 - Tuwaiq Palace, Saudi Arabia, with Buro Happold• 1972 - Roof for Olympic Stadium, Munich• 2000 - Roof structure of the Japanese Pavilion at Expo 2000, Hanover Germany

(provided engineering assistance with Buro Happold and architectural collaboration with Shigeru Ban)

FREI OTTO

Olympic Stadium (Munich)

• original capacity of 80,000• large sweeping canopies of acrylic glass stabilized by steel cables

FREI OTTO

Plan Aerial View FREI OTTO

FREI OTTO

FREI OTTO

Details

the tensile glass tent-like roof

FREI OTTO

FREI OTTO

Tuwaiq Palace

• Recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1998.

Tuwaiq Palace• enclosed by inclined curved walls, forming a sinuous curvilinear spine 800

m long, 12 m high, and 7-13 m wide, used for guest services and accommodations

• outdoor sports facilities, gardens, and extensive landscaping laid out in a pattern of complementary spirals, circles, and curves, in harmony with the building's undulations

• Mushrooming from the spine are tents supported by tensile-structure technology

• design makes reference to two local archetypes - the fortress and the tent

• The tents enclose the large-scale spaces: main lounges, reception areas, multi-purpose halls, restaurants, and a café

• dramatic contrast between the lush greenery of the outdoor spaces enclosed by the spine and the arid rocky plateau beyond its walls

• The white tents are made of Teflon-coated, woven fibre fabric• The tents are enclosed by glass walls

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