Engineering Art – the roof of the Olympic Stadium Munich – and After

A tulle model that has become legend transported the vision of lightness, freedom and openness in the competition for the Olympic Games in Munich 1972. Jörg Schlaich designed the light, transparent and open roofs, spanning still today the sport venues of the 20th Olympic Games. The nets are supported on the outside by masts; on the inside, suspended columns carry the nets. A strong cable along the edges above the football field produces ­a free cantilever above the stands. The free surface geometry gives the swimming hall its unforgettable character, suspended with a cable loop on an inclined mast.

On 11 November, 2010 Jörg Schlaich held the first impulse lecture at Oskar von Miller Forum: “Engineering Art – the Roof of the Olympic Stadium Munich – and After”. Civil engineer Professor Dr.-Ing. Drs.h.c. Jörg Schlaich leads together with his partner Rudolf Bergermann one of the most innovative engineering offices ­in Germany. Their work is dedicated to building art and combines three priorities: design and art, design and society, design and ecology.
These parameters led to artistic building structures whose efficiency and beauty are astonishing. Especially in the field of solar power generation the two engineers with their office make a contribution to technologically innovative processing of existing resources. Jörg Schlaich’s work is characterized by visions and ­the aspiration to implement them. He not only sought challenges in the field of civil engineering; his work is a demonstration of deep consciousness of social, cultural, economic and ecologic problems of humanity. 

The bridge built for 23 years by the people of Kolkata, or his participation at the pavilion roof for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich with its anti-architecture as a reaction to the Olympic constructions of 1936 demonstrate his commitment for general social questions.

His many award-winning works Jörg Schlaich handed over to the Academy of the Arts in Berlin. With care and love an exhibition has been set up from this fund. In the two weeks following Jörg Schlaich’s lecture, a great part of the exhibition was presented in the foyer of the Oskar von Miller Forum. The exhibition took place from Wednesday 11 to Friday 26 November.