The need to carry out experiments and physical tests with models is today questioned with the use of the computer; which constitutes an important optimization and a shape search tool. But to what extent?

Frei Otto, a German architect born in 1925 in Siegmar, devoted much of his career to the study of shapes and materials from experimental models. Experimentation in architecture was the central axis of his work. Although the principles of these models cannot be applied directly to buildings, they served a pure research purpose and offered a theoretical point of view in the design of structures. He established an unprecedented working methodology. His experimental models allowed him a further understanding of how materials work at their best when they are under tension, the soap film minimal surface models for tensile membranes and the hanging chain catenary form models for compressive arch and shell structures. This allowed him not only to find an optimal lightweight structure, but also to have a more environmentally friendly approach to architecture.

This research work interrogates, reads, interprets and reconstructs Frei Otto’s soap film models in order to find a method of working with digital tools that allows us to deepen the study of these forms. After this study, both methods, analog and digital, will be compared to see which one is better to work with nowadays