Japan’s Pavilion, by Nikken Sekkei of which circular shape represents the cycle of life, examining Japanese aesthetics of circulation.
Perhaps the single most anticipated architecture event of 2025, is the Expo Osaka in Japan, with its exquisite and heroic theme – ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives.’ Opening on April 13th, its projected visitor count is 28 million. I will be there, and would like to encourage anyone with love for architecture and design culture to visit this seminal, once-in-a-lifetime architecture experince.
It will be the third time that Osaka will be hosting the Expo. The first, iconic Expo 1970, was also the first world’s fair held in Asia. Designed by Japanese architecture hero Kenzo Tange, it presented memorable avant-garde pavilions, created by Japan’s best architects of their time. One of the most memorable architecture events of the 20th century, its pavilions entered the history of architecture. Osaka hosted the Expo again in 1990, and at that time the focus shifted to horticultural progress, hosting 83 countries, which presented their national gardens.
The upcoming Expo 2025, set on an artificial island, with a masterplan in a shape of an enormous wooden ring constructed in Japanese traditional timber methods, designed by brilliant architect Sou Fumimoto. Just looking at the renderings of some of the national pavilions, of which construction began in October, you can tell that this event will be spacial and that it will demonstrate the power of architecture to evoke contemporary ideas and notions of our lives in 2025.
Czech Republic Pavilion, by Apropos Architectse; where the glass facade referenceing the history of Bohemian glassmaking.Sou Fujimoto’s wooden ring for Expo Osaka 2025. Switzerland’s Pavilion, by Manuel Herz Architekten, demonstrating that natural and man-made worlds can coexist.Saudi Arabia’s Pavilion, by Foster + Partners, drawing on the trational architecture of its villages.Bahrain’s Pavilion, by Lina Ghotmeh, celebrating the country’s maritime and port history.The rooftop observation deck on the wooden ring. Italy’s Pavilion, by Mario Cucinella Architects comes to bring the visitors to feel as if they are “breathing the air of Italy.”USA’s Pavilion, by Trahan Architects resembling a canyon where screenswill display films of American landscapes, to introduce visitors to the American experience (reminding me of the pavilion the Eameses created for 1959 US National Exhibition in Moscow. Kuwait’s Pavilion, by LAVA, where the represents the country’s famous hospitality.Singapore’s Pavilion, by DP Architects, entitled The Dream Sphere, presenting multimedia installations by Singaporean artists with themes which embody the spirit of the country and encourage tourism.The Netherlands’s Pavilion, by RAU, simbolizing clean energy and the potential of water in the world’s transition to renewables.The Netherlands’s Pavilion, by RAU, simbolizing clean energy and the potential of water in the world’s transition to renewables.
