Architect Frei Otto, a pioneer in lightweight tensile structures, died on March 9 at age 89, soon after he learned he had won the prestigious 2015 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Otto, born in Siegmar, Germany, on May 31, 1925, was an "architect, visionary, utopian, ecologist, pioneer of lightweight materials, protector of natural resources and a generous collaborator with architects, engineers, biologists, among others," says the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in a release. Otto is the 40th laureate of the honor, sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation.