The Legend: Frei Paul Otto

This legend was born in 31 May 1925 in Siegmar, Germany. He was an architect and a structural engineer. When it concerns the use of lightweight materials there was no one better. He specializes in the use of tensile and membrane structures.

He was a man of many talents. In 1945, he was conscripted as a fighter jet in the WWII. During the same period he intern in Prisoners of War Camp near Chartres.

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 US and visited Erich Mendelsohn , Mies van der Rohe , Richard Neutra , and Frank Lloyd Wright.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT

Frei Otto started his Private practice in 1952 after returning to Germany. His first notable work was at Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Exposition) in Kassel. It was a "saddle-shape cable-net music pavilion. He obtained doctorate in 1954 on Tensile Constructions.

He founded the 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 in1967 and the roof of the 1972 Munich Olympic Arena.

The Olympic Stadium Munich.

 Hall at the International Garden Exhibition, 1963, Hamburg, Germany

The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, 1967, Montreal, Canada

Selected Awards 

•1974 – Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture
•1980 – Honorary doctorate of science from the University of Bath
•1996/97 – Wolf Prize in Architecture
•2005 – Royal Gold Medal for architecture by RIBA  2006 – Premium Imperiale in Architecture
•2015 – Pritzker Architecture Prize

Pritzker Award and Death.

Death is an inevitable end no mortal can resist it call. Otto died on 9 March 2015; he was to be publicly announced as the winner of the 2015 Pritzker Prize on 23 March but his death meant the committee  made an impromptu announcement of  his award on 10 March.

Frei Otto was best known for his lightweight structural style and his collaborative, holistic approach to architecture, Otto -- who had sadly passed away on March 9 -- is the 40th laureate of the Pritzker Prize and the second laureate from Germany.

Past recipients in recent years include Shigeru Ban (2014), Toyo Ito (2013), Wang Shu (2012), Eduardo Souto de Moura
(2011), SANAA (2010), and Peter Zumthor (2009). Laureates receive a $100,000 grant, a formal citation certificate, and a
bronze medallion based on the designs of famed Chicago architect Louis Sullivan.

It was reported that  Otto himself had been told earlier that he had won the prestigious prize by the executive director of the Pritzker Prize, Martha Thorne. He was reported to have said, "I’ve never done anything to gain this prize. Prize winning is not the goal of my life. I try to help poor people, but what shall I say here — I'm very happy."

Tributes

Zaha Hadid has paid tribute to "inspirational and enlightening" late German architect Frei Otto, while Norman Foster said Otto's "extraordinary structures altered the nature of architectural form in the 20th century".

Foster added that Otto's "environmentalism, intelligence and foresight have established the defining architectural mentality for the 21st [Century]."

"We first met in Germany early in my career and he became a dear friend," Hadid told Dezeen, following news that the architect had posthumously been awarded the Pritzker Prize

I believe Architect/ Engineer Frei Otto died happy at age 89 in Warbronn, Germany.

Further Reading about him, his works, and awards here on:
Wikipedia
Bustler

Yours

Klem