Zaha Hadid has paid tribute to “inspirational and enlightening” late German architect Frei Otto, even though Norman Foster explained Otto’s “extraordinary structures altered the nature of architectural form in the 20th century”.

Foster extra that Otto’s “environmentalism, intelligence and foresight have established the defining architectural mentality for the 21st [Century].”

“We first met in Germany early in my job and he became a dear friend,” Hadid told Dezeen, following news that the architect had posthumously been awarded the Pritzker Prize.

“His study and exploration of tensile structures was inspirational and enlightening, and his Pritzker is quite nicely deserved,” Hadid explained. “Our joy of this information is some consolation for the reduction of a wonderful architect, inventor, educator and gentleman. Our ideas are with his household at this time.”

Relevant story: Frei Otto posthumously named 2015 Pritzker Prize laureate

Otto, who died on Monday at the age of 89, was a pioneer in tensile and membrane architecture, building curved tent-like structures that have been developed to harness normal forces and use minimal resources.

Aviary in the Munich Zoo at Hellabrunn, 1979-1980, Munich, Germany

Hadid, who has previously cited Otto as an influence on her personal architecture, said the fluidity of his work “is as uplifting as it was profoundly inventive – a persuasive manifesto of nature’s logic and unity, demonstrating how architectural design and style and engineering can emulate nature’s morphogenesis.”

“The more our very own design and style study evolves, the far more we learn to appreciate his pioneering operates,” she added. “He will continue to influence architects and engineers for generations to come.”

Norman Foster described Otto as an “inspiration”, adding that he had actively supported Otto’s nomination for the Pritzker prize.

“I was deeply saddened to hear that Frei Otto had passed away on Monday,” Foster informed Dezeen. “I had particularly written to the Pritzker Jury in support of his nomination for the Pritzker Prize.”

Foster also sent Dezeen a tribute he had written for Otto’s 80th birthday a decade ago. “Frei Otto showed us that architecture require not be burdened by the weight of its very own traditions, but could instead be free to express itself through straightforward but revolutionary sculptural kinds,” the tribute said. “This sense of weightlessness, and of an architecture unbound by convention, was carried above into Frei’s doing work relationships.”

Foster continued: “Rather than functioning in isolation, he regularly advocated a freer function for the architect – no matter whether this was as an educator, sharing his suggestions with generations of college students, or in practice, through valued joint tasks with, or delivering research help for, other architects and engineers.

“For me, he reinforced the point that architecture is a fundamentally collaborative exercising,” Foster wrote. “His extraordinary structures altered the nature of architectural kind in the 20th century, and his environmentalism, intelligence and foresight have established the defining architectural mentality for the 21st.”

The 1967 Global and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, 1967, Montreal, Canada

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, who was on this year’s Pritzker jury, unveiled that he too had written a personalized citation to assistance Otto’s nomination for the award.

“Frei Otto has developed thoughout his daily life, not only imaginative, fresh, unprecedented spaces and constructions he has also developed expertise,” go through the citation Aravena shared with Dezeen.

“Here resides his deep influence: not as varieties that had been copied but as paths that have been opened by his investigation and discoveries. His contribution to the discipline of architecture in that sense, has been not only experienced and talented, but also a generous a single.”

Otto’s very best-known projects incorporate the 1972 Munich Olympic stadium, the German pavilion for the 1967 Planet Expo in Montreal, and the soaring steel mesh aviary at Munich Zoo. He was acknowledged for his collaborative technique, forming profession-long relationships with engineers and other architects, and was between the very first adopters of 3D modelling.

Roofing for primary sports activities facilities in the Munich Olympic Park for the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1968–1972, Munich, Germany

From 1964 he led the Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart, exactly where he spearheaded research into making use of natural shapes and mathematical patterns to create new lightweight development approaches.

He was named as the 2015 Pritzker laureate – the architectural equivalent to winning a Nobel prize – on Tuesday, turning out to be the award’s 40th recipient. The announcement was pulled forward by two weeks. A ceremony that was scheduled to get area in Miami on 15 Might will go ahead, with plans to celebrate his daily life and perform.

Dezeen