This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/arts/design/frei-otto-german-architect-wins-pritzker-prize-posthumously.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Pritzker Prize for Frei Otto, German Architect, Is Announced After His Death | Pritzker Prize for Frei Otto, German Architect, Is Announced After His Death |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| In an announcement abruptly moved up after his death, the German architect Frei Otto on Tuesday was named the winner of the Pritzker Prize in recognition of his airy tentlike structures and other inventive feats of engineering. | In an announcement abruptly moved up after his death, the German architect Frei Otto on Tuesday was named the winner of the Pritzker Prize in recognition of his airy tentlike structures and other inventive feats of engineering. |
| Mr. Otto, 89, died in Germany on Monday, two weeks before he was to be named this year’s laureate, the prize jury said. He is perhaps best known for roof canopies designed for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, admired for their blend of lightness and strength. | Mr. Otto, 89, died in Germany on Monday, two weeks before he was to be named this year’s laureate, the prize jury said. He is perhaps best known for roof canopies designed for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, admired for their blend of lightness and strength. |
| “He has embraced a definition of architect to include researcher, inventor, form-finder, engineer, builder, teacher, collaborator, environmentalist, humanist, and creator of memorable buildings and spaces,” the jury said in its citation. | “He has embraced a definition of architect to include researcher, inventor, form-finder, engineer, builder, teacher, collaborator, environmentalist, humanist, and creator of memorable buildings and spaces,” the jury said in its citation. |
| The Pritzker is regarded as architecture’s highest honor and usually goes to a living architect. The committee said it was the first time that a winner had died before the announcement was made. | The Pritzker is regarded as architecture’s highest honor and usually goes to a living architect. The committee said it was the first time that a winner had died before the announcement was made. |
| Mr. Otto learned of his selection early this year when Martha Thorne, the prize’s executive director, flew to Stuttgart to inform him of the jury’s choice. He was blind but otherwise in good health, the panel said. Mr. Otto was honored and surprised, according to Edward Lifson, a spokesman for the prize. | Mr. Otto learned of his selection early this year when Martha Thorne, the prize’s executive director, flew to Stuttgart to inform him of the jury’s choice. He was blind but otherwise in good health, the panel said. Mr. Otto was honored and surprised, according to Edward Lifson, a spokesman for the prize. |
| “I’ve never done anything to gain this prize,” Mr. Otto was quoted as saying. “Prizewinning is not the goal of my life. I try to help poor people, but what shall I say here — I’m very happy.” | “I’ve never done anything to gain this prize,” Mr. Otto was quoted as saying. “Prizewinning is not the goal of my life. I try to help poor people, but what shall I say here — I’m very happy.” |
| Mr. Otto may not have been a household name, but he was widely esteemed in the profession. Prominent architects had quietly pushed for him to receive the award for years. | Mr. Otto may not have been a household name, but he was widely esteemed in the profession. Prominent architects had quietly pushed for him to receive the award for years. |
| “Time waits for no man,” said Peter Palumbo, the Pritzker chairman, in a statement, calling Mr. Otto’s death “a sad and striking example of this truism.” | “Time waits for no man,” said Peter Palumbo, the Pritzker chairman, in a statement, calling Mr. Otto’s death “a sad and striking example of this truism.” |
| The announcement was originally to be made on March 23. The architect Frank Gehry was to award Mr. Otto the prize at a ceremony on May 15 at the New World Center in Miami. That will proceed as scheduled, with past Pritzker laureates speaking there about Mr. Otto’s life and work. | The announcement was originally to be made on March 23. The architect Frank Gehry was to award Mr. Otto the prize at a ceremony on May 15 at the New World Center in Miami. That will proceed as scheduled, with past Pritzker laureates speaking there about Mr. Otto’s life and work. |
| Mr. Otto first became known for tent structures used as temporary pavilions at the Federal Garden Show in Germany and other events in the 1950s. | Mr. Otto first became known for tent structures used as temporary pavilions at the Federal Garden Show in Germany and other events in the 1950s. |
| His large-scale roofs for the 1972 Olympics stadium in Munich, designed with Günter Behnisch, defied expectations, though the games were vastly overshadowed by the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes there by Palestinian terrorists. | His large-scale roofs for the 1972 Olympics stadium in Munich, designed with Günter Behnisch, defied expectations, though the games were vastly overshadowed by the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes there by Palestinian terrorists. |
| Mr. Otto often designed in collaboration with others, collaborating with Shigeru Ban on Japan’s pavilion for the 2000 Hannover Expo in Germany and with Rolf Gutbrod on the West German pavilion at the Montreal Expo of 1967. | Mr. Otto often designed in collaboration with others, collaborating with Shigeru Ban on Japan’s pavilion for the 2000 Hannover Expo in Germany and with Rolf Gutbrod on the West German pavilion at the Montreal Expo of 1967. |
| Born in Siegmar, outside Chemnitz in eastern Germany, Mr. Otto grew up in Berlin. He designed glider planes as a hobby, fascinated by the structural forces at work when thin membranes are stretched over light frames. | |
| During service as a pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War II, he was captured near Nuremberg, Germany, and spent two years as a prisoner of war near Chartres in France, where he worked as a camp architect, learning to build various structures with the minimal materials available. | During service as a pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War II, he was captured near Nuremberg, Germany, and spent two years as a prisoner of war near Chartres in France, where he worked as a camp architect, learning to build various structures with the minimal materials available. |
| After the war Mr. Otto returned to study architecture at the Technical University of Berlin, where he earned a doctorate in civil engineering in 1954. | After the war Mr. Otto returned to study architecture at the Technical University of Berlin, where he earned a doctorate in civil engineering in 1954. |
| In a clear reaction to the heavy columned buildings commissioned under the Third Reich, Mr. Otto’s work was lightweight, democratic, low-cost and sometimes temporary. | In a clear reaction to the heavy columned buildings commissioned under the Third Reich, Mr. Otto’s work was lightweight, democratic, low-cost and sometimes temporary. |
| After a trip through the United States, where he viewed the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and others, Mr. Otto became a freelance architect in 1952, opening an office in Berlin. He went on to found several institutions dedicated to lightweight structures. | After a trip through the United States, where he viewed the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and others, Mr. Otto became a freelance architect in 1952, opening an office in Berlin. He went on to found several institutions dedicated to lightweight structures. |
| He was inspired by “natural phenomena — from birds’ skulls to soap bubbles and spiders’ webs,” the British architect Richard Rogers, a member of the Pritzker jury and a past laureate, said in a statement prepared before Mr. Otto’s death. | He was inspired by “natural phenomena — from birds’ skulls to soap bubbles and spiders’ webs,” the British architect Richard Rogers, a member of the Pritzker jury and a past laureate, said in a statement prepared before Mr. Otto’s death. |
| Mr. Otto’s work has been widely recognized. In 2006, for example, he won the 18th annual Praemium Imperiale prize for architecture, awarded by the Japan Art Association; in 2005 he received the Royal Gold Medal for architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects. | Mr. Otto’s work has been widely recognized. In 2006, for example, he won the 18th annual Praemium Imperiale prize for architecture, awarded by the Japan Art Association; in 2005 he received the Royal Gold Medal for architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects. |
| “Frei Otto is one of the great architects and engineers of the 20th century,” Mr. Rogers said. “His work has inspired and influenced modern architecture, as we all learn to do more with less, and to trade monumental structures for economy, light and air.” | “Frei Otto is one of the great architects and engineers of the 20th century,” Mr. Rogers said. “His work has inspired and influenced modern architecture, as we all learn to do more with less, and to trade monumental structures for economy, light and air.” |