A century of lightness - the legacy of Frei Otto

University of Stuttgart celebrates the 100th birthday of a lightweight construction pioneer

Universitaet Stuttgart

FacebookX

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Festive event in honor of Frei Otto's 100th birthday at the University of Stuttgart.

view more 

Credit: University of Stuttgart / Uli Regenscheit

"Frei Otto reimagined architecture - lightweight, interdisciplinary, and responsible. His legacy is more relevant than ever, especially when we are looking for solutions for climate-friendly and affordable construction. With its robust research landscape and the legacy of the Stuttgart School, Baden-Württemberg holds a special responsibility to boldly forge ahead on this path,” stated Nicole Razavi MdL, Minister for Regional Development and Housing of Baden-Württemberg, during the opening of the event.

Frei Otto’s ideas not only spanned roofs but also opened up new ways of thinking - towards buildings that push the boundaries of gravity, grounded in a deep sense of responsibility for people, resources, and the environment. Nowhere embodies this spirit more strongly than Stuttgart: the city that shaped Otto – and that he, in turn, shaped.

The University of Stuttgart was his intellectual home for more than two decades. “Frei Otto made visionary pioneering contributions to research and teaching. The University of Stuttgart’s rise as an internationally renowned center for architecture, lightweight construction, and sustainable building methods is also thanks to his invaluable contributions," says Prof. Peter Middendorf, Rector at the University of Stuttgart. Especially at the Institute for Lightweight Structures (IL), founded by Otto and from which today’s Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) emerged, he shaped research, teaching, and structural aesthetics. "We have remained true to Frei Otto’s founding principles: Even today, we continue to explore the limits and possibilities of resource-efficient construction in ever new ways," explains Prof. Lucio Blandini, head of ILEK since 2020.

A global visionary from Stuttgart

Frei Otto (May 31, 1925 – March 9, 2015) never saw architecture as an end in itself – for him, it was always also an ethical mission. He built not only lightweight constructions, he also built responsibly –for the environment, for society, and for future generations. His designs reflect a deep respect for natural resources and a pursuit of maximum impact with minimal material use - long before sustainability became a guiding principle. Equally important to him was the social dimension of building and the question of how architecture can provide protection, dignity, and inclusion. He designed emergency shelters for refugees, explored alternative housing concepts, and emphasized participatory design processes.

Frei Otto’s work is not only architecturally groundbreaking - it represents an attitude: one of interdisciplinary collaboration and a building culture that places people at its center. He gained international recognition with projects such as the German Pavilion at Expo 1967 in Montreal, the suspended roof of the Munich Olympic Stadium, and the Multihalle in Mannheim. "Engaging with Frei Otto is worthwhile not only from a cultural-historical perspective. His work is more relevant today than ever before and offers groundbreaking inspiration for the future. At the intersection of architecture, technology, and society, we see how interdisciplinary, well-founded research can contribute to the sustainable development of our built environment," explains Prof. Christiane Weber, Head of the Institute of Architectural History (ifag).

Otto's legacy: Lightweight construction as a strategy for the future

At the international conference "Frei Otto 100 – The Spirit of Lightweight Construction," ILEK and ifag brought together leading voices from research, architecture, engineering, and culture to honor the University of Stuttgart’s most celebrated architect." Frei Otto’s legacy was projected into the future through engaging lectures, thought-provoking panels, and dynamic discussions. The focus was on his understanding of the environment and the relevance of his approaches in the face of global challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity. Renowned experts, including Professors Georg Vrachliotis, Daniela Fabricius, Kai-Uwe Bletzinger, Mike Schlaich, Sigrid Adriaenssens, Achim Menges, and Jenny Sabin, presented research questions and projects that build on Otto’s principles – ranging from textile construction to adaptive structures.

Frei Otto’s vision of building with nature shapes not only research and teaching at ILEK, but also influences the strategic profile area Architecture and Adaptive Buildings of the University of Stuttgart, the Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture (IntCDC), and the Collaborative Research Centre Adaptive Shells and Structures for the Built Environment of the Future. The researchers build on Otto’s approaches, integrating insights from materials science, mechanical engineering, biology, robotics, and computer science to create experimental architectures that, through the use of new technologies, remain functional, ecological, and socially responsive. In this way, Frei Otto’s vision endures - light in material, yet deeply rooted in responsibility.

A place of encounter – an inspiration for tomorrow

For Frei Otto’s 100th birthday, citizens were also invited to engage with his way of thinking. In Chemnitz, an interactive exhibition was held; in Mannheim and Munich, guided tours took place at the Multihalle and the Olympic Stadium; and open discussion formats in Leonberg and Stuttgart brought lightweight construction to life. A special highlight was the event “Unfolding Umbrellas – An Evening for Frei Otto” on June 5th at StadtPalais Stuttgart: In a performative gesture, three restored prototypes of the “Manual Funnel Umbrellas” were presented for the first time – a poetic tribute to Frei Otto’s ideas of openness, lightness, and community.

The conference “Frei Otto 100 – The Spirit of Lightweight Construction”

The event was organized by the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) in cooperation with the Institute of Architectural History (ifag) at the University of Stuttgart and supported by numerous partners. Further information

 

“Bite me here!” multidisciplinary research unlocks resonance secret of buzz pollination interactions

Science China Press

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Figure 1 Bumblebees use vibration to forage pollen on beaked and “nosey” Pedicularis. They always bite at the base of the flower’s beak and then buzz it. The pollen released from the beak’s terminus is deposited on the bee’s abdomen. The point at which they bite produces the strongest floral vibration, discharging the most pollen from the tip of the elephant’s nose. When different lousewort species bloom together, a bumblebee will choose the flower with a beak length suitable to the length of its own winged body, resulting in a size-dependent mutualism.

view more 

Credit: ©Science China Press

High on the slopes of the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains of southwestern China are hundreds of species of lousewort (Pedicularis) wildflowers producing special petals (galea) that resemble the heads of elephants complete with a long nose (beak). Bumblebees are their only pollinators. Multi-angle cameras recorded hundreds of video clips of bumblebee visits, revealing that the bee lands on the flower, bites the elephant’s head and shakes the muscles in her chest. The vibrations are transferred to her jaws and pollen puffs out of the elephant’s trunk. The pollen grains land on the bee’s abdomen where she gathers them up to store on baskets on her hind legs to take home to feed her larval sisters. These flowers never make nectar so pollen is the only reward and the bee cross-pollinates the flower in exchange for more baby food as she flies from plant to plant.

To investigate why bumblebees always bite the same area on the flower regardless of lousewort species, researchers constructed a three-dimensional finite element model of Pedicularis flowers based on quantified structural and material properties of the flowers applying 3D micro-CT and atomic force microscopy. Finite element analyses and vibrational mechanics experiments showed that, to shake the most pollen out of the elephant’s nose, there is only one “optimal biting point” on the elephant’s head located at the base part of the floral beak. Different lousewort species produce elephant noses of different lengths and show different degrees of twisting and coiling. Bumblebees can only collect pollen and pollinate a flower in which the length of the bee matches the length of the flower from its optimal biting point through the tip of the elephant’s trunk. However, bumblebees living in the same colony change in size over the summer. That means that older and younger workers living together in the same nest may vibrate two or more different species of elephant nose flowers. The individual-level pollination network analysis confirmed a significant "size matching" between the beak lengths of different Pedicularis flowers and the body lengths of visiting bumblebees, with precise matching observed at both species and individual levels. This explains why you can find several different elephant nose species growing and blooming together on the same mountain slope, at the same elevation but no one has found hybrids between them. They are not sharing bumblebees of the same size and length.

“The serious challenge is to integrate biomechanics with pollination ecology as buzz pollination involves complex vibrational coupling,” said Miss. Yuanqing Xu, first author and PhD. student at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. “We successfully established a multidimensional research framework combining vibrational mechanics, insect behavior, and ecological networks.”

“What’s fascinating is that the biomechanics of each elephant nose species prevents pollen grains from reaching the wrong flower,” added Prof. Peter Bernhardt, co-author and senior pollination ecologist at the Missouri Botanical Garden. “It seems as if these flowers tell bees “Bite me here before you shake me!””

This study reveals the vibrational coupling mechanism in buzz pollination and highlights the critical role of floral biomechanics in shaping plant-pollinator interactions, offering new insights into the co-evolution of plants and pollinators and the establishment of floral diversity in wild communities over time. Given the prevalence of buzz pollination in angiosperms and its importance in some economic crops, the study offers scientific support for ecological conservation and greater management of pollination in modern agriculture.

The authors dedicate this paper to the late Professor Walter A. Macior (1936–2007), a renowned pollination ecologist who made outstanding contributions to the study of Pedicularis pollination ecology and referred to these unique species as “elephant-nose flowers”. Prof. Hong Wang, corresponding author and researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, said “From these flowers, we read not only the wisdom of life during evolution but also the resonance of the scientific spirit across generations and international borders”.

---

Journal

Science China Life Sciences

DOI

10.1007/s11427-024-2858-5 

 

Fundamentals and challenges for indirect and direct photocatalytic conversion of plastic wastes into valuable fuels

Science China Press

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

undamentals and Challenges for Indirect and Direct Photocatalytic Conversion of Plastic Wastes into Valuable Fuels

view more 

Credit: ©Science China Press

Plastics, with excellent chemical stability and acid and alkaline resistance are widely used in our life and industrial production. Plastic brings us convenience, but also brings a lot of trouble to human life. According to the report of United Nations Environment Programme in 2018, all around the world, 430 million tons of plastics are produced every year, and more than two-thirds of these plastic products are disposable plastic products. Based on current trends, plastic pollution will contribute 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, and plastic production could triple by 2060. These plastic pollutants will have a serious impact on the ecological environment and human health. Some chemicals used in plastic synthesis, such as antioxidants and plasticizers, may enter human tissues through the biological chain, greatly increasing the chances of cancer in humans. Moreover, plastic waste will also pollute the biological habitats of terrestrial and marine organisms, leading to the destruction of the ecological environment and significantly influencing the ecological balance. Plastics are mainly long chain polymer compounds de-rived from the polymerization of monomers. In our life we often see a variety of plastics, such as PET, PLA, PE, poly-ethylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PUR). With the gradual accumulation of plastic waste, people realize that plastic should be recycled in order not to affect human life.

In the early stage of research, people mainly through incineration disposal, landfill disposal and other traditional ways of plastic treatment, but this will also lead to serious environmental pollution and incomplete treatment of plastic. With the deepening of research, people found that plastic is also a valuable and recyclable carbon resource. Inappropriate treatment of plastics is also a waste of resources. For this reason, researchers are actively exploring methods to recycle plastics under mild conditions. In order to prevent secondary pollution during the plastic recycle process, researchers are focusing on the field of photo-catalysis as a clean and green energy source.

This review details a variety of strategies for converting plastics into valuable chemicals through photocatalysis. In detail, researchers outline the indirect conversion of PET with alkaline-assistant pretreatment. They also review the indirect conversion of PLA with alkaline-assistant and hydrothermal pretreatment. In addition, researchers highlight the indirect conversion of PE with hydrothermal pretreatment. Subsequently, they overview the direct conversion of PE through a two-step process. Besides, they summarize the direct conversion of PLA via an amination strategy. Moreover, they emphasize the direct conversion of PVC by a single ROS strategy. Finally, they offer some challenges and outlooks of photocatalytic conversion of plastics into valuable fuels in the future.

---

Journal

Science China Chemistry

DOI

10.1007/s11426-025-2631-5 

Method of Research

Literature review

 

Chinese Medical Journal article reviews classification, synthesis, and applications of ‘herbzymes’

Researchers highlight the current understanding of nanozymes that are derived from Chinese herbs to underscore their potential biomedical applications

Chinese Medical Journals Publishing House Co., Ltd.

FacebookXLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessage

WhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Nanomaterials that have enzymatic activities are called nanozymes. “Herbzymes” are nanozymes derived from traditional Chinese herbal medicines, with potential biomedical applications. With characteristic synthesis mechanisms and applications, these are extracted from a variety of Chinese herbs.

view more 

Credit: Chinese Medical Journal Image Source Link: https://journals.lww.com/cmj/fulltext/2025/05050/advancements_in_herbal_medicine_based_nanozymes.5.aspx

Ever since Youyou Tu won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of anti-malarial compounds from an herbaceous plant Artemisia annua, there has been a remarkable increase in research efforts on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The integration of modern nanotechnology into TCM practices has contributed to deepening our practical understanding of Chinese medicines and the development of nanomedicines.

Nanomedicines developed from Chinese herbs retain the characteristic pharmacological properties of the herb while also exhibiting enzymatic activities typical of nanozymes. These have found applications across diverse fields like medical therapy, bio-imaging, food science, and environmental monitoring. Although the various applications and functionalities of nanozymes derived from Chinese herbs have been reported previously, their synthesis, classification, catalytic properties, potential applications, mechanisms of action, and pharmacological properties have not been carefully reviewed yet. With this in mind, Professor Mingzhen Zhang and Associate Professor Mingxin Zhang from Xi’an Jiaotong University and Xi’an Medical University led a team of researchers from China to review ‘herbzymes’, its synthesis methods, biomedical applications, and challenges. This review was published on May 05, 2025 in Volume 138 Issue 9 of the Chinese Medical Journal and was made available online on April 01, 2025.

The authors first describe the basic concepts and functionalities of nanozymes. “Nanozymes are a group of enzyme mimics that exhibit the distinctive characteristics and catalytic functions of nanomaterials. Nanozymes possess catalytic activities similar to various natural enzymes, such as peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), oxidases (OXD), glucose OXD, proteases, esterases, and nucleases”, explains Prof. Zhang about the main catalytic functions of nanozymes. One of the first POD-like nanozymes to be discovered—Fe3O4 nanozymes—have been extensively used in tumor diagnosis and therapy. SOD-like nanozymes catalyze the conversion of superoxide anion into molecular O2 and H2O and with their better stability and cost-effectiveness are used to treat oxidative stress-related diseases like strokes or inflammatory bowel diseases. Similarly, CAT-like nanozymes are anti-oxidants that can treat hypoxia in tumors or inflammation, and can be used for sonodynamic therapy and radiotherapy. GPx—a protein enzyme involved in reducing H2O2 to H2O—also protect cells from oxidative damage. Although research on GPx-like nanozymes are still growing, these also have potential applications in biomedical therapy. OXD-like nanozymes activity is exhibited by many inorganic materials and are widely applied in several industries.  Research on nanozymes have rapidly advanced in the past years, but they are primarily made of inorganic material, limiting their applicability and sustainability.

A new class of nanozymes made of organic materials have been introduced in past years. “Among them, a subset of nano-TCM synthesized from herbs has been found to exhibit enzyme-like catalytic activities. We therefore introduce the concept of ‘herbzymes’, which refers to nanozymes derived from TCM”, Dr. Zhang introduces ‘herbzymes’. These are three main types: herb carbon dot (CD) enzymes, polyphenol-metal nanozymes, and herb extract nanozymes. CDs are advanced zero-dimensional carbonaceous nanomaterials in a size range of 2–10 nm, and are derived from various sources like vegetables, fruits, food, and beverages. CDs extracted from TCMs have multiple biological activities like maintaining redox balance, bio-imaging, and disease treatments. CDs are typically synthesized using ‘bottom-up’ approaches which include hydrothermal processes, pyrolysis, microwave-assisted methods, etc., and exhibit multiple redox enzymatic activities like SOD, CAT, GPx, and OXD and are extracted from several herbs including garlic, ginger, and safflower. They are used in treating inflammatory diseases, food preservation, bacterial diseases, and tumors. Polyphenol-metal nanozymes are typically synthesized using a one-pot method where metal ions and polyphenolic compounds can spontaneously react in a solution. Extracted from polyphenol-rich TCMs like turmeric and rosemary plant, these help in treating acute kidney and lung injuries, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Herb extract nanozymes are synthesized directly from TCMs by methods like boiling, steaming, baking etc., to reduce toxicity, side effects while improving their therapeutic abilities. Derived from several TCMs like Rhizoma polygonati and Goji, these exhibit proteolytic, phosphatase-like enzymatic activities.

There are several challenges to be addressed in the development of herbzymes for practical biomedical applications. These include optimization of their processing techniques that maximize pharmacological activities, identification of herbzymes’ catalytic sites and their exact mechanism of action, exploration of their catalytic functionalities beyond redox reactions, and focused research on their metabolism and distribution in the body to reduce toxicity. To this, Prof. Zhang adds, “The current literature and data on the classification and catalytic types of herbzymes is still limited. As the number of published studies increases, it will be necessary to establish a database for herbzymes based on existing TCM databases.”

Herbzymes present a unique therapeutic avenue for exploring TCMs and their clinical applications. As research continues to uncover their catalytic mechanisms and optimize synthesis strategies, herbzymes have the potential to significantly advance the modernization and global application of traditional Chinese medicine.

 

***

Reference

DOI:  10.1097/CM9.0000000000003584

---

Journal

Chinese Medical Journal

DOI

10.1097/CM9.0000000000003584 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Advancements in herbal medicine-based nanozymes for biomedical applications

 

UConn researchers pioneer nanoparticle approach to fight poultry disease

UConn researchers have demonstrated that a novel protein-based nanoparticle can make mRNA vaccines more effective to tackle a troublesome pathogen in chickens

University of Connecticut

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

UConn researchers have demonstrated that a novel protein-based nanoparticle can make mRNA vaccines more effective to tackle a troublesome pathogen in chickens.

Mazhar Khan, professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, Challa V. Kumar, emeritus professor in the Department of Chemistry and graduate students Anka Rao Kalluri and Aseno Sakhrie collaborated over several years and published their findings in Vaccines.

Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), a rapidly spreading coronavirus, is a major concern for poultry farmers in the U.S. and worldwide. Poultry farmers lose millions each year due to this disease.

Currently, farmers use live attenuated vaccines or killed vaccines to combat the virus. However, these kinds of vaccine come with a series of challenges. The virus could reactivate, mutate, or recombine to create a vaccine-resistant or more severe strain. These vaccines also have a shorter shelf life and require additional compounds, known as adjuvants, to be effective.

The researchers have developed an effective mRNA IBV vaccine alternative.

mRNA vaccines, like the human COVID-19 vaccines, do not contain any live virus. Instead, the mRNA encodes a piece of the virus’ genetic code, specifically the spike protein that is responsible for triggering the immune response and trains the immune system to respond to the protein.

Yet, mRNA vaccines still have some limitations, namely their lack of stability. mRNA vaccines break down quickly and need to be kept in temperature-controlled settings, something that poses a challenge on poultry farms.

In a key advancement, Khan and Sakhrie are using a novel nanoparticle that protects the mRNA from breaking down quickly.

This particle was invented by the Kumar group for applications in biology. It was Kumar who convinced the team to work on mRNA vaccines, long before COVID vaccines arrived. Early hurdles were to efficiently complex the nanoparticles with target mRNA. Kalluri solved this problem by covalently attaching positively charged amine groups to the particle. The positively charged particles capture the negatively charged mRNA and stabilize it. Sakharie and her colleagues carried out detailed cellular and animal studies using these nanoparticle-mRNA complexes.

“This project highlights how collaborations across campus are making rapid progress in solving complex scientific problems,” says Kumar.

Amino groups attached to the particle surface not only stabilize the mRNA but also protect it from hydrolysis by nucleases, enzymes that break down the nucleic acids that make up DNA and RNA, in the body.

“The nanoparticle will keep it more stable, and it will deliver the vaccine to the cells where it will express the desired mRNA,” Sakhrie says.

The nanoparticles are made by modifying bovine serum albumin, a readily available protein, affordable, and non-toxic protein, a waste product of commercial beef production.

The team’s studies have shown that chickens vaccinated with the nanoparticle mRNA vaccine showed a 1000-times increase in antibodies against IBV compared to the unvaccinated control group. Their work has also demonstrated that immune cell activity increased in the vaccinated chickens, which indicates the vaccine boosts the entire immune system to fight off infection.

With these promising results, the researchers are now investigating a more effective vaccination method.

Traditionally, farmers need to individually inject baby chicks with the vaccine, a time-consuming project for the farmers and a stressful one for the chicks.

The team is evaluating if, instead, the vaccine can be administered via a spray on the chicks. This would allow farmers to vaccinate large flocks quickly and without stress to the animals.

While IBV is not currently a concern for human health, using the nanoparticles to enhance the stability of mRNA vaccines has the potential to improve human vaccines. Essentially, researchers could plug the genetic code of an emergent disease into the nanoparticle vaccine platform to quickly develop an effective mRNA vaccine. This platform technology can be tuned to various other disease vectors in the future.

“We can use the nanoparticle for human vaccines,” Khan says. “The timing for vaccine development is very short, we just need the specific sequence of the gene.”

---

Journal

Vaccines

DOI

10.3390/vaccines13060568 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Nanoparticle-Based mRNA Vaccine Induces Protective Neutralizing Antibodies Against Infectious Bronchitis Virus in In-Vivo Infection

 

US workers’ self-reported mental health outcomes by industry and occupation

JAMA Network Open

About The Study: 

In this cross-sectional study, poor mental health among workers varied significantly by sociodemographic categories; significant differences among industry and occupation groups remained after adjustment. More research is needed on the effects of work-related factors on mental health, which may inform tailored treatment and prevention strategies.

Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Aaron L. Sussell, PhD, email als7@cdc.gov.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.14212)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

#  #  #

Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article 

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.14212?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=060625

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication. 

---

Journal

JAMA Network Open

Support for care economy policies by political affiliation and caregiving responsibilities

JAMA Health Forum

About The Study: 

The results of this cohort study suggest that, despite some differences by political affiliation, there is high support of policies to support the adult care economy, suggesting a policy window to advance legislation and executive action to address the care needs of aging populations and populations with disabilities.

Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Katherine E. M. Miller, PhD, email kmill177@jh.edu.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.1204)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

#  #  #

Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article 

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.1204?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=060625

About JAMA Health Forum: JAMA Health Forum is an international, peer-reviewed, online, open access journal that addresses health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health and health care. The journal publishes original research, evidence-based reports and opinion about national and global health policy; innovative approaches to health care delivery; and health care economics, access, quality, safety, equity and reform. Its distribution will be solely digital and all content will be freely available for anyone to read.

---

Journal

JAMA Health Forum