his reaction to the classical buildings used to support Nazism in Germany led him to read light and adaptable buildings as ‘natural’ expressions of democratic ideals. Quotes “Primitive architecture was an architecture of necessity. It used nothing to excess, no matter whether it was stone, clay, reeds or wood, animal skins or hair. IT is minimal. Even in poverty it can be very beautiful and is good in the ethical sense. Minimal primitve architecture can be structure and ornament at the same time. Decoration makes sense if it is essential.” Frei Otto. “Finding Form: on the way to an architecture of the minimal,” Frei Otto, Boddo Rasch: Finding Form (Edition Axel Menges, 1995), p.13
“Animate objects reproduce by division and sexual multiplication. They changed as a result of random mistakes in reproduction and ”develop” through the untargeted “optimization process” of negative selection through an inability to survive. More and more diverse forms emerge with ever more marked abilities to dominate otherliving creatures.” Frei Otto. “Animate Nature,” Frei Otto, Boddo Rasch: Finding Form (Edition Axel Menges, 1995), p.30
“When objects form of their own accord, man can make direct use fo the processes. For example, when building up ramparts and embankments he will take account of the angles of natural embankments. He can work out the shape of arches from spiders webs or the shape of bowls from suspended nets. There is a new form of selfformation process, using computer optimization prgrammes to find solutions for practical problems.” Frei Otto. “Self-formation Processes Used by Man,” Frei Otto, Boddo Rasch: Finding Form (Edition Axel Menges, 1995), p.41
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