奥托对拉伸结构和资源密集型设计的迷恋起源于他在第二次世界大战期间的经历。作为一名飞行员，奥托被俘虏并囚禁在法国夏特雷斯附近的战俘营地，他在那里为其他囚犯建造帐篷式的庇护所，使用他掌握的有限的物质手段。[1]战争结束后，他将这些努力转化为一种全职的建筑追求，研究了它们在工业上的潜在应用。他极其简单的设计前提-以资源节约、结构智能和建筑效率为指导的建筑-在20世纪50年代和60年代的乐观知识分子文化中得到了热烈的欢迎。和富勒同时期的测地线球体一样，奥托相信他的拉伸檐篷能提供一种廉价、耐用、用途广泛的建筑解决方案。[2]

The origin of Otto’s fascination with tensile structures and minimally resource-intensive design dates to his experiences during the Second World War. Drafted into the Luftwaffe as a pilot, Otto was captured and imprisoned in a POW camp near Chartres, France, where he worked constructing tent-like shelters for other prisoners using the limited material means at his disposal. [1] After the war ended, he translated these efforts into a full-time architectural pursuit, investigating their potential application on an industrial scale. His radically simple design premise—creating an architecture guided by resource conservation, structural intelligence, and construction efficiency—found warm reception in the optimistic intellectual culture of the 1950s and 60s. Like Fuller’s contemporaneous geodesic spheres, Otto believed that his tensile canopies promised an architectural solution that was cheap, durable, and highly versatile. [2]

 Nighttime inverted the flow of light through the canopy wells. Image © Frei Otto

夜间逆光流过树冠水井。图像(Frei Otto)

奥托对居住者不断变化的需求和人类足迹的影响非常敏感，他还宣传了临时建筑的必要性，这些建筑易于组装，而且易于拆卸和回收。由于几乎可以适应任何场地和地形条件的构件很少，他的桅杆和檐篷系统是对重视刚性和持久性的传统建筑方法的彻底简化。在设计和预制之后，蒙特利尔的德展馆在短短六周的时间内就被组装在现场，不久后就被拆除了。[3]

Sensitive to the ever-changing needs of occupants and the impact of the human footprint, Otto also preached the need for temporary structures that were easy to assemble, and just as easy to take down and recycle. With few components, all of which could be adapted to virtually any site and terrain condition, his systems of masts and canopies were a radical simplification of traditional building methods that valued rigidity and permanence. Once it had been designed and pre-fabricated, the German Pavilion in Montreal was assembled on-site in a mere six weeks, only to be dismantled shortly after the fair. [3]

观看正在建设中的德国馆的录像。

Watch a video of the German Pavilion under construction.

 Inside the German Pavilion during Expo '67. Image © Frei Otto

67年世博会期间，在德国馆内。图像C.弗雷·奥托(Frei Otto)

展馆地形的复杂性-一幅超抛物面曲线的全貌-捕捉到了自然、数学和物理关系的内在美。这种形式仅仅是由悬挂点和锚之间的连接而产生的，它反映了材料织物上的力的无失真的相互作用，并尽量减少了人为干扰。世博会的一位记者将其比喻为“帐篷杆上盖着一张紧绷的白色床单”的简单效果。[4]在这个异想天开的姿态中，一位总工程师精心策划的阴谋还是相当明显的。

The topographic complexity of the pavilion—a sweeping landscape of hyperparabolic curves—captured the intrinsic beauty of natural mathematical and physical relationships. Generated simply by the connection between suspension points and anchors, the form reflected the undistorted give and take of forces on material fabric with minimal artificial interference. A reporter at the Expo likened the effect to the simplicity of “a tight, white sheet draped over tent poles.” [4] Within this whimsical gesture, the calculated machinations of a master engineer were nonetheless quite obvious.

 © Frei Otto

弗雷·奥托

天篷本身是由一个预应力钢缆网盖上半透明的聚酯纺织膜。在展馆周边的几个地方，帐篷的表面以戏剧性的漏斗状的洞向地面倾斜，最后又上升到了桅杆的高耸入云的高度。奥托的系统在技术上是复杂的，但在概念上却很简单，经过仔细计算，却被自由表达的不规则性和构图自由所激发。这个展馆不仅仅是一个巨大的帐篷-这是人类最原始的建筑-但它的运动有一种美，尽管人类拥有所有的机器和优秀的发明，却很少能做到这一点。

The canopy itself was constructed of a pre-stressed steel cable mesh covered in a translucent, polyester textile membrane. At several points within the perimeter of the pavilion, the surface of the tent dipped to the ground in dramatic funnel-like cavities, only to rise up again to the soaring height of the masts. Otto’s system was technologically sophisticated yet conceptually simple, carefully calculated yet animated by the irregularity and compositional freedom of unrestrained expression. The pavilion was a little more than a big tent – mankind’s most primitive structure – but it had a beauty in its movements that man, despite all of his machines and fine inventions, had rarely managed to achieve.

 Form-finding study model. Image © Frei Otto

找形学习模式。图像(Frei Otto)

在目前数码制作的形式比德国馆更加骇人听闻的情况下，因此，结构要复杂得多，也许很难欣赏奥托的工作或他在蒙特利尔计算机之前在蒙特利尔取得的工程成就所开辟的正式疆界。但是，无论是在结构上还是在形式上，他的作品都忽略了更重要的情感，而这种情绪激发了奥托冒险式的发现。他的意图绝不是为建筑师和美学家的欣赏而建造饲料，而是为了人类的利益而建造。[5]正如Thom Mayne最近在向已故建筑师致敬时所说的那样，这种技术人道主义只会“在我们进入这个数字时代时变得越来越重要”。

Amidst the current saturation of digitally produced forms far more outrageous than the German Pavilion, and with, consequently, structures far more complicated, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate the formal frontiers that were opened up by Otto’s work or the engineering feats he achieved in Montreal in a time before computers. But to dwell on either the structural or the formal facets of his work is to overlook the far more important sentiment that fueled Otto’s adventurous form finding. His intentions were never to build fodder for the appreciation of architects and aesthetes; they were to build for the benefit of humanity. [5] As Thom Mayne recently remarked in a tribute to the late architect, this technological humanitarianism will only “become increasingly relevant as we move into this digital age.” [6]

[1]Pogrebin，Robin。德国建筑师弗雷·奥托的普利茨克奖是在他死后宣布的。“纽约时报”(在线)，2015年3月10日。2015年3月16日检索网址：http：/www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/Art/Design/frei-Otto-德国建筑师-胜利者-Pritzker-奖-postthumously.html？_r=0。

[1] Pogrebin, Robin. “Pritzker Prize for Frei Otto, German Architect, Is Announced After His Death.” New York Times (Online), 10 Mar. 2015. Retrieved 16 Mar. 2015 from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/arts/design/frei-otto-german-architect-wins-pritzker-prize-posthumously.html?_r=0.

[2]兰登，大卫。“蒙特利尔生物圈/巴克明斯特富勒”ArchDaily，2014年11月25日。可访问网址：http：/www.archdaily.com/572135/广告-古典文学-蒙特利尔-生物圈-巴克明斯特-富勒/。

[2] Langdon, David. “Montreal Biosphere / Buckminster Fuller.” ArchDaily, 25 Nov. 2014. Accessible at http://www.archdaily.com/572135/ad-classics-montreal-biosphere-buckminster-fuller/.

[3]Mark，Laura。“普利茨克获奖者弗雷·奥托的六项计划。”“建筑师杂志”，2015年3月11日。可访问网址：http：/www.ArchtsJournal.co.uk/news/Six-Projects-by-Pritzker-Winner-frei-Otto/8679835。

[3] Mark, Laura. "Six projects by Pritzker winner Frei Otto." The Architects Journal, 11 Mar. 2015. Accessible at http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/six-projects-by-pritzker-winner-frei-otto/8679835.article.

[4]保存，John H.“蒙特利尔的67届世博会将是一次‘有趣的博览会’。”“棕榈滩邮报”，1967年2月19日，p.2.

[4] Keeping, John H. “Montreal’s EXPO 67 Is Going To Be A ‘Fun Fair.’” The Palm Beach Post, 19 Feb. 1967, p. 2.

[5]例如见Del Barco，Mandalit。“从体育场到收容所：缅怀普利茨克获奖者弗雷·奥托。”npr.org，2015年3月11日。2015年3月16日检索网址：http：/www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375481/从-体育场馆到庇护所-记住-Pritzker-胜利者-frei-otto。

[5] See, e.g., Del Barco, Mandalit. "From Stadiums to Shelters: Remembering Pritzker Winner Frei Otto." NPR.org, 11 Mar. 2015. Retrieved 16 Mar. 2015 from http://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375481/from-stadiums-to-shelters-remembering-pritzker-winner-frei-otto.

建筑师弗雷·奥托和罗尔夫·古特布罗德面积0.0平方米项目年1967年照片弗雷·奥托

Architects Frei Otto and Rolf Gutbrod Area 0.0 sqm Project Year 1967 Photographs Frei Otto

[6]Mayne，Thom。“向弗雷奥托致敬”普利茨克建筑奖。2015年3月16日：http：/www.pritzkerprize.com/2015/tributes-frei-Otto。

[6] Mayne, Thom. “Tributes to Frei Otto” The Pritzker Architecture Prize. Accessed 16 Mar. 2015 from http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2015/tributes-frei-otto.