Ever the tireless inventor, Frei Otto designed vehicles for all kinds of conditions: air, water, snow and road. As early as 1952 he published a design for a motorised sledge. Tracked vehicles already existed, but his sledge was based on a new propulsion system intended to facilitate, with the help of a foldout windmill, manoeuvrability in the Arctic.
Otto also analysed wind power for a revolutionary sailing boat concept: here he proposed sails made from thin plywood, rather than fabric and devised steerable runners in the water for the catamaran-like construction to skate across the water surface. This “superboat” incorporated state-of-the-art aerodynamics – and the forward-thinking it embodied is borne out today by the use of rigid sails now used by the world’s fastest racing boats.
Otto’s “superboat” was followed by a “supercar” in the early 1960s. Commissioned by the Indian National Design Institute, Otto came up with a convertible with a sliding roof, an enormous windscreen and a streamlined front. The interior, however, revealed a roomy family car, fully equipped with camping gear and a refrigerator. In combination with a tent – also designed by Otto – the car could also transform into a mobile home. I (Franziska Stein)
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