Let It Swing

In Memory of Jürgen Hennicke

Yesterday, I received the news of the passing of Jürgen Hennicke. I would like to take this as an occasion to reflect on his contribution to the field of membrane structures and to share a few personal thoughts.

Jürgen Hennicke was, for decades, a formative figure in the world of lightweight membrane construction. As a close collaborator of Frei Otto, he helped carry forward a way of thinking that fundamentally shaped tensile architecture: clarity in structural logic, respect for form, and trust in the inherent behavior of materials.

He was not a loud or self-promoting personality. His influence lay in precision, intellectual depth, and a quiet strength. Conversations with him were never about spectacle, but about understanding principles.

I had the privilege of meeting him during my Master’s studies in “Lightweight Membrane Structures” at the Donau-Universität Krems, where he taught as a lecturer. In the years that followed, I met him repeatedly at professional conferences. Each encounter was enriching.

One of his core teachings has stayed with me ever since:

“Let it swing.”

What sounds simple at first carries profound meaning. Membrane structures require freedom. They must not be over-constrained or forced into rigidity. Their strength lies in balance, not fixation; in allowing movement rather than suppressing it.

In his lectures, one could strongly sense the spirit of ultralight construction—not as a stylistic choice, but as a mindset. Working with membranes was, for him, not merely a technical discipline. It was an attitude toward design and engineering.

At a time when systems tend to become increasingly complex and controlled, his reminder remains highly relevant: good construction does not mean controlling everything, but understanding how a system wants to behave.

For Jürgen Hennicke, the membrane was never just a material.
It was a mindset.