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Doomsday Architecture Is More Relevant Now Than Ever
The 1970s saw a fascination with building utopias that could endure extreme climates. Thanks to global climate change, we need exactly that type of design thinking today.
Nothing that Frei Otto ever built looked crazier on paper than it did in real life. That may be one small reason why the late architect, who died earlier this month, won this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize: He made the fantastical tangible. Otto made visionary work seem doable.
Look at Otto's unbuilt 1971 vision for housing an Arctic town alongside the vast tent-like roofing structures he designed and completed for the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics. The utopian dome city looks downright humble in comparison.