The Politics of Form Finding
The Politics of Form Finding
Frei Otto and Postwar German Architecture
This chapter explores the German Frei Otto’s research into form finding and natural models for design, with a particular focus on the West German Pavilion for Expo 67 in Montreal and the 1975 Multihalle in Mannheim, both projects in which Otto played a leading role. Otto's work was based on the premise that, in parallel to nature, architectural forms could be shaped as optimal responses to their physical environments. Confronting the challenges of postwar Germany, Otto gave an explicitly political valence to this naturalistic methodology, describing it as both anti-Fascist and proto-environmental.
Keywords: Frei Otto, Expo 67, Multihalle, form finding
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