As a student, Jörg Schlaich's lectures inspired me to his vision of the solar upwind-tower power plant as a low-tech approach compared to photovoltaics, which was still unaffordable at that time. And with a story about sudden green growth under the glass surfaces of the test plant in Manzanares (Spain) - triggered by condensation on the glass panes due to longwave radiation at night towards the sky - taught all of us that systems have to be considered holistically.
He still reported on regenerative concepts in our symposium in the Theaterhaus Stuttgart in 2012. Social aspects were also a great concern for him, such as the employment of local workers. This was a theme he lived by, with which he realized his bridge in Calcutta and applied the local handmade riveted joints of the bridge instead of high sophisticated welding.
I would have liked to convince one of the Sheikhs in the Middle East to simply build an upwind-tower plant following his ideas, we would have owed that to Jörg Schlaich.
Now Jörg Schlaich has left us, but his dream of a regenerative energy supply lives on and is now finally also a political goal.
We should all take him as an example, hold on to concepts for a sustainable world and stand up for them.
With deep respect
Matthias Schuler
Jörg Schlaich at the Transsolar Symposium 'Connect Ideas – Maximize Impact' 2012 >