by Gabriella Sola

Occupying and connecting. Thoughts on territories and spheres of influence with particular reference to uman settlements
Frei Otto, Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgart/London 2009 (pp. 112, € 24,00)

This book is the publication of a study conducted as part of research into Natural Constructions by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). It confirms the visionary force of Frei Otto, whom Bruno Zevi in his Storia dell’Architettura Moderna placed alongside Soleri and Buckminster Fuller in the section Utopia e Futuribili. Reiterating Lamartine’s definition in his own words, Zevi wrote, “Utopias are simply premature truths” – “Utopia is an ambiguous term that only strictly applies perhaps to some of the Archigram Group’s spectacular designs. All the rest are concrete hypotheses for a frighteningly close future that requires urgent planning to avoid incalculable catastrophes.” This is the perspective that should be adopted when considering Frei Otto’s work and writings, which are particularly relevant today with the assertion of an ecoculture of the city. The book leads us through a fascinating analysis of the existing processes for the occupation of space and interconnections. It identifies a striking analogy between the aggregation processes that occur in the physical, animal and vegetable world and the natural and spontaneous forms and logic behind human settlements. The two are characterised by two opposing trends, one of attraction and the other of distance, and by the dominance of triangular and hexagonal forms, as opposed to the orthogonal logic of square and/or rectangular blocks (from the Roman camp to the American city) typical of rational and artificial human desire, whether models of military origin, imposed by dictators, or adopted in fiercely democratic situations.

The author demonstrates that town and territorial planning, based on this artificial model, as it has developed over time, is contrary to an economic and ecological use of the land. For example, it has a longer infrastructure network and greater distances compared with the straight line. In order to cope with the challenges that await us, he suggests going back to the observation and understanding of the natural world and its logic. Cities, settlements and road networks change and evolve to their own rules and are, the author believes, essentially impossible to plan. Although you can force a city into a certain scheme, it is certainly more relevant to encourage spontaneous development and optimisation processes. However, to do so we must understand these processes and know how to stimulate them.

He is not suggesting zoomorphic imitation or copying other natural forms. Instead we should seek to understand the strong analogies that exist, and apply our knowledge of natural conformations to technical solutions. Many forms spontaneously created by nature are optimum models, as nature expresses itself and develops its phenomena with the minimum expenditure of energy. A new model of town and territorial planning based on sustainable development cannot, in terms of ecology and energy saving, disregard the knowledge of nature and spontaneous processes or, equally, the potential of new technology.

This is precisely how the observation of nomad camps in extreme conditions and experimentation with materials to exploit their static and technological potential led to the creation of Otto Frei’s tensile structures, with their incredible lightness and transparency. The text clearly reveals the architect’s fascination with reticular structures. Whether they were being developed on the ground and in space to link living beings and their settlements or to close the top of a building, he always analysed their analogies with those of the physical and natural world and with a view to saving energy and optimising resources. The result was a reduction in materials and a consequent reduction in costs.

Everything about Frei Otto and his new book expresses coherent design, and many of today’s leading architects – from Renzo Piano to Norman Foster and Richard Rogers – are intellectually indebted him. Successful theoretical research into the concept of the city is based on technological experimentation on the potential of the materials and models observed in nature and biology studies. The search for a new, total and all-embracing bond between architecture and the universe therefore also has a strong and emotional ethical connotation.