Umbrellas for Pink Floyd’s 1977 concert tour of the United States
1977
Photo · Photo © Frei Otto
A precedent for modular, lightweight tensile canopies designed by Frei Otto, demonstrating how overlapping inverted-umbrella geometries can create continuous, translucent weather protection.
- What we like about this project
- The delicate, leaf-like scalloped edges where the fabric tension is pulled back to the rib tips.
Materials
- tensile-fabric
- steel-tubing
- cable-net
Visual identifiers
- tensile-umbrella
- scalloped-canopy
- radial-ribs
- translucent-fabric
- frei-otto
Style tags
- structural-expressionism
- lightweight
- organic-modernism
Visual tags
- tensile-structure
- temporary-architecture
- canopy
- lightweight-structure
- modular-design
- Geometry
- Overlapping inverted-cone umbrellas with radial ribbing radiating from central vertical masts, forming a scalloped perimeter edge.
- Structural guess
- Central steel masts supporting radial tension ribs and a membrane skin.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale temporary structures, each umbrella spanning several meters in diameter.
- Lighting
- Diffused, backlit daylight filtering through translucent white fabric, highlighting the structural rib pattern.
- Atmosphere
- A soft, filtered canopy of light and shadow suspended beneath the open sky.
- Environmental context
- Outdoor public space or concert venue with tree branches visible at the upper edge.
- Spatial experience
- The overlapping canopy creates a continuous, undulating artificial sky that filters harsh light while maintaining an open-air ground plane.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic, staggered grid of repeating circular forms that overlap to form a continuous ceiling.
- Style reading
- Mid-century organic structural expressionism
- Program
- Concert stage or public plaza shelter
- Perspective
- Detail Close-up
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- tensile-fabric, steel-tubing, cable-net
- Visual identifiers
- tensile-umbrella, scalloped-canopy, radial-ribs, translucent-fabric, frei-otto
- Style tags
- structural-expressionism, lightweight, organic-modernism
- Visual tags
- tensile-structure, temporary-architecture, canopy, lightweight-structure, modular-design
- Geometry
- Overlapping inverted-cone umbrellas with radial ribbing radiating from central vertical masts, forming a scalloped perimeter edge.
- Structural guess
- Central steel masts supporting radial tension ribs and a membrane skin.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale temporary structures, each umbrella spanning several meters in diameter.
- Lighting
- Diffused, backlit daylight filtering through translucent white fabric, highlighting the structural rib pattern.
- Atmosphere
- A soft, filtered canopy of light and shadow suspended beneath the open sky.
- Environmental context
- Outdoor public space or concert venue with tree branches visible at the upper edge.
- Spatial experience
- The overlapping canopy creates a continuous, undulating artificial sky that filters harsh light while maintaining an open-air ground plane.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic, staggered grid of repeating circular forms that overlap to form a continuous ceiling.
- Style reading
- Mid-century organic structural expressionism
- Program
- Concert stage or public plaza shelter
- Perspective
- Detail Close-up
- Discipline
- architecture