Below are a few of his early cablenet structures - The IL, German Pavilion at Montreal 67 Expo and Munich Olympic Stadium Structures.
Photo credits: Peter Kneen


28,15,0,50,1
600,600,60,1,5000,1000,25,2000
90,300,1,50,12,25,50,1,70,12,1,50,1,1,1,5000

Munich Olympic Stadiums
View ImagePhysical model of the cablenet structure

German Pavilion Expo 1967
View ImageFrei Otto developed the free form cablenet roof structure for the striking German Pavilion at the 1967 Montreal World Expo. There was a tensioned fabric skin suspended below the cable net.

German Pavilion Expo 1967
View ImageDetails of the acrylic sheets showing multiple rubber supports to the cablenet under. Large amounts of expansion and contraction in the sheets lead to a system of flexible rubber gutters between the sheets.

Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Stadium Entrance Area
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Munich Stadium Entrance Area
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Munich Stadium Entrance Area
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Munich Swiming Complex
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Stadium Entrance Area
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
View ImageFrei Otto developed the free form cablenet roof structure for the striking German Pavilion at the 1967 Montreal World Expo. There was a tensioned fabric skin suspended below the cable net.

Expo 1967 Details
View ImageFrei Otto developed the free form cablenet roof structure for the striking German Pavilion at the 1967 Montreal World Expo. There was a tensioned fabric skin suspended below the cable net.

German Pavilion Expo 1967
View ImagePrior to the German Pavilion at Expo 1967, Otto developed a smaller cablenet structure featuring a high peaked central mast. It housed his Institute for Lightweight Structures

Frei Otto IL Building Stuttgart
View ImageFrei further developed the free formed stressed cablenets for the stadia at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The cladding used large flat rectangular sheets of acrylic supported by flexible rubber pads above the cablenet.

Munich Olympic Stadiums
View ImageThe now familiar saddle shaped anticlastic stressed surfaces which resist both uplift and downward loads. Nowadays seen more with tensioned fabric structures

Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
View ImageMast details

Munich Olympic Stadiums
View ImageMain stadium edge cable

Munich Olympic Stadiums
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Munich Olympic Stadiums
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