The name Frei Otto (1929-2015) is synonymous with the evolution and development of lightweight structures. Otto exerted a huge influence on the industry by way of his visionary creative concepts, exquisite soap-film and other 3D models and, of course, his completed structures.

Otto was born in Berlin in 1925 and studied architecture there, before serving as a fighter pilot in World War II. The ravages of war created an enormous housing shortage in Germany and Otto considered using tents as a temporary solution. While visiting the USA in the early 1950s he was inspired by the construction of the cable-net roof at the State Fair Arena in Raleigh N.C.

Otto began his architectural practice in 1952. His early hypar or saddle-shaped stressed canvas tent for the music pavilion at the 1955 Federal Garden Exhibition in Kassel brought him considerable attention. He worked alongside the tent-maker Peter Stromeyer, and together they took the art of tent-making to a new level. No longer did tents consist of planar panels. Instead, the surfaces were made from strips, each cut to different patterns to reflect the end-3D shape and the stresses in the structure.  Many contemporary outdoor stage coverings use a variant of this doubly-curved stressed tensile form.

LSAA 2016 Conference and Design Awards

Theme: Design Beyond the Boundaries of Architects or Engineers

Melbourne from Thursday September 1st to Friday September 2nd 2016.

The Venue is at the Caulfield Campus of Monash University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (Link for Description)

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We are developing a theme based on the evolution of lightweight structures with the particular influence of the remarkable German Engineer - Architect Frei Otto who passed away in 2015. He had a profound impact on the use of new structural forms and materials. His work covered cablenets, fabric structures, timber gridshells and he was, and still is, an inspiration for many.

The Conference team are working on inviting several eminent overseas and local speakers who have had direct contact with Frei to share their memories as well as reflect on the enormous contributions made to the design process. Frei Otto often "workshopped" projects around sketches and evolving physical models to arrive at geometric forms that suited the materials, technology and the design brief.

The LSAA is also planning to have a "mini-workshop" as part of the conference where participants can interact and be mentored by guest speakers whilst they work towards a design outcome for a lightweight tensioned fabric structure.

Aside from the central theme, the committee would welcome contributions from LSAA Members in particular. Some Guidelines for Authors can be found HERE. 

 

There is a wealth of material dealing with Frei Otto is now on the internet.

Some links include:

• YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cII1xV3XVhY 
• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt-yAiieDn0 (Architectural Association School of Architecture London)
• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra1_0O6EwIg (Architectural Association School of Architecture London)
• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPdpN8dfvhA  (2001) Since the 1950s, the architect and engineer Frie Otto has been an outstanding innovator in the field of lightweight tensile and membrane structures, pioneering many advances in structural mathematics and civil engineering. His best-known works are the German Pavilion for the 1967 Expo in Montreal, designed with Rolf Gutbrod, and the roof structure of the Olympic Sport Stadium in Munich, Germany, with Behnisch and Leonhardt (1972). He has won numerous architectural awards and honours. NB: Slight audio disturbance at beginning. (110 minutes)
• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbJw7uyT-uI 

  Frei Otto: Spanning the Future (Official Trailer 2016)

• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IW7o25NmeA Modelling with Soap Films
• YouTube Link:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=degls4ve_Dc 

  FREI OTTO - Form Finding and Path Systems

• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EG21xLQi9o In Memory of Frei Otto
• YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHZYEHBs7vz4llywAk5JKlA 

Below are a few of his early cablenet structures - The IL, German Pavilion at Montreal 67 Expo and Munich Olympic Stadium Structures. 

Photo credits: Peter Kneen

Welcome to our Conference Mini-Workshop.

Normally, workshops dealing with the design of membrane structures take a full day!

We are restricted to half a day so it is strongly advised that you do some preparation beforehand so you will get the most out of the workshop.

You will be divided into small groups that will have a mix of current students from MADA/RMIT as well as the delegates from the Conference. There could be about 20 such groups and you will be spread out in various rooms in the MADA building. 

As a result each group will have a spread of skills that you will need to utilize. Spend only a few minutes to introduce yourselves and give some idea of the skills/experience that you might contribute.