Reflections on Frei Otto as Mentor and Promoter of Sustainable Architecture and his collaboration with Kenzo Tange and Ove Arup in 1969

The present paper will discuss through personal accounts from first author who was a doctorate student in Stuttgart from 1977-1982 the ingenious and sui generis persona of Frei Otto and his contributions to promote the design and construction of sustainable lightweight structures. Frei Otto's unique and original ideas without doubt together with his academic and professional accomplishments allowed him to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2015. The paper will also discuss the 1969 Kuwait Sports Centre Competition, which was the first project in which Kenzo Tange, Frei Otto and Ove Arup worked together and which can be considered as a prelude to the seminal project 'Artic City' in 1971.