1972 Munich Olympic Stadium

Interior view, West Germany Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal Canada

Multihalle in Mannheim

Frei Paul Otto (31 May 1925) is a German architect and structural engineer.

Life[link]

Otto was born in Siegmar (since 1950 a part of Chemnitz). He studied architecture in Berlin before being drafted into the Luftwaffe as a fighter pilot in the last years of World War II. It is said that he was interned in a French POW camp and, with his aviation engineering training and lack of material and an urgent need for housing, began experimenting with tents for shelter. After the war he studied briefly in the United States and visited Erich Mendelsohn, Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra, and Frank Lloyd Wright. He began a private practice in Germany in 1952. His saddle-shaped cable-net music pavilion at the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Exposition) in Kassel brought him his first significant attention. He earned a doctorate about tensioned constructions in 1954.

Otto is the world's leading authority on lightweight tensile and membrane structures,^{[citation needed]} and has pioneered advances in structural mathematics and civil engineering. Otto's career bears a similarity to Buckminster Fuller's architectural experiments: both taught at Washington University in St. Louis in the late 1950s, both were architects of major pavilions at the Montreal Expo of 1967, both were concerned with space frames and structural efficiency, and both experimented with inflatable buildings. The work of both men go far beyond traditional methods of calculating structural stresses. His designs are regarded to have been heavily influenced by Australian architect Barry Patten, and his most famous design, the Myer Music Bowl (1959) in Melbourne.

Otto founded the famous Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart in 1964 and headed the institute until his retirement as university professor. Major works include the West German Pavilion at the Montreal Expo in 1967 and the roof of the 1972 Munich Olympic Arena, inspired by Vladimir Shukhov's architecture.

The International Architecture Symposium "Mensch und Raum" (Man and Space) at the Vienna University of Technology (Technische Universität Wien) in 1984 received in international attention. Otto participated, among others: Justus Dahinden, Dennis Sharp, Bruno Zevi, Jorge Glusberg, Otto Kapfinger, Paolo Soleri, Pierre Vago, Ernst Gisel, Ionel Schein.

Otto is still active as an architect and engineer. 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.

List of buildings[link]

• 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)

Awards (selected)[link]

• 1974 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture
• 1980 Honorary doctorate of science from the University of Bath
• 1996/7 Wolf Prize in Architecture
• 2005 RIBA Royal Gold Medal[1]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Frei Otto

• Tensile architecture
• Tensile and membrane structures
• Gridshell

Further reading[link]

• Conrad Roland: Frei Otto – Spannweiten. Ideen und Versuche zum Leichtbau. Ein Werkstattbericht von Conrad Roland. Ullstein, Berlin, Frankfurt/Main und Wien 1965.
• Winfried Nerdinger (Hrsg.): Frei Otto. Complete Works. Lightweight Construction – Natural Design. Birkhäuser Verlag für Architektur, Basel, Boston, Berlin, Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München 2005, ISBN 978-3-7643-7231-6

External links[link]

• Frei Otto's website: http://www.freiotto.com
• Frei Otto at the archINFORM database
• Japan Pavilion Expo 2000 – About the roof structure – Design Boom

Frei kommune
—  Village and Former Municipality  —
Coat of arms
Location in Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 63°03′45″N 07°48′11″E / 63.0625°N 7.80306°E / 63.0625; 7.80306Coordinates: 63°03′45″N 07°48′11″E / 63.0625°N 7.80306°E / 63.0625; 7.80306
Country	Norway
Region	Western Norway
County	Møre og Romsdal
Municipality ID	NO-1556
Adm. Center	Rensvik
Area[1]
• Total	65 km2 (25 sq mi)
Population (2004)	5,274
• Density	83/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+01:00)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+02:00)
Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt in 1838
Merged into	Kristiansund in 2008

Frei is a village, island, and former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the present-day municipality of Kristiansund between the Kvernesfjord and Freifjord. The island of Frei is connected to the city of Kristiansund by the Omsund Bridge, and it is connected to the mainland by the Freifjord Tunnel (part of the Krifast system).^[1]

The island of Frei has an area of 62.5 square kilometres (24.1 sq mi). The village of Frei (or Nedre Frei) is located on the southern end of the island, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of Kvalvåg. Frei's largest village is Rensvik, the former municipal center, which is located at the north end of the island.

The Viking-era Battle of Rastarkalv, between Haakon I of Norway and the sons of Eric I of Norway, took place here in 955 AD.

Name[link]

The municipality was named after the island of Frei (Old Norse: Freiðr). The meaning of the name is unknown, but is maybe derived from fríðr which means "good" or "beautiful". Until 1889, the name was written Fredø.^[2]

Municipality[link]

The municipality of Fredø was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1882, a small part of Fredø (population: 40) was merged into Øre. On 1 September 1893, an area of Frei (population: 231) was merged into the new municipality of Gjemnes. On 1 January 1964, the northern part of the island of Frei was transferred from Bremsnes to Frei, also the part of Frei on the island of Aspøya (population: 147) was transferred to Tingvoll. On 1 January 2008, the municipality of Frei ceased to exist when it was merged into the municipality of Kristiansund to the north.^[3]

Coat-of-arms[link]

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 September 1987, and they were designed by local architect and painter Nils Fiske. The two gold crowns on a red background symbolize the relationship between Frei and two Norwegian Kings: King Håkon the Good had a hunting lodge in the area in the 10th century, and the King and the villagers took part on the Battle of Rastarkalv in the municipality in 955. King Håkon VII has visited the village in 1955 at the 1000th anniversary of the battle.^[4]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Frei

This Møre og Romsdal location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e