Less than 24 hours before it lifts the curtain on Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai – Japan is ready to go, according to Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, who will join the Imperial Family, the Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and dignitaries from 160 countries at the Expo’s Opening Ceremony.
Pegged by The New York Times as one of its 52 places to visit and by Lonely Planet as one of the world’s top 30 go-to destinations, more than 28 million guests are expected to attend the six-month Expo. Amongst the highlights include Grand Ring—the world’s largest wooden structure assembled—one of dozens of timber-rich pavillions and expo sites assembled over the past few months.
Speaking to the world’s media on Wednesday, Sou Fujimoto, the architect behind the Grand Ring, which uses more than 61,000 square metres of timber, said the ring is “a symbol of our times,” tapping Japan’s rich history of wooden architecture spanning more than a thousand years:
“However, we haven’t fully harnessed these natural materials to their greatest potential. (As a result) I have blended traditional design principles with cutting-edge tech to create the largest wooden structure.”
Last year, Fujimoto, who, as a child, played in the forests, said that in a world where conflicts rage in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere, the ring illustrates that “the simplest shape in life is a circle.”
“The Ring was created with ingenuity to have the maximum impact within a limited budget by consolidating various functions,” Fujimoto said, with wood the sustainable choice given the “beautiful (carbon) cycle” of trees.
With Japan leading the world in developing building standards that can withstand earthquakes, Japanese cedar and hinoki wood were combined with much stronger European red cedar and reinforced steel to make the giant wooden ring fully quake-resistant. Inside, massive wooden beams hold up a sloping roof, which doubles as a skywalk, protecting millions of visitors from the weather.
In total, the ring measures 615 meters in its inner diameter, 675 meters in its outer diameter, 30 meters in width, 12 meters in height and uses traditional Nuki joints – a building system commonly found in Japanese shrines and temples. From its highest point, visitors can take in the full circular form of the structure, with pavilions from around the world gathered within.
“The ring is creating a place where diversity can connect. That is extremely precious, especially when you think about the current state of the world. I believe this is one of the most meaningful aspects of holding the Expo,” Fujimoto told the Media on Wednesday.
“Inside this framed space, a dreamlike, ideal world is revealed. I hope visitors can imprint this image into their memory as a future vision. A future where diversity, despite the world’s instability, can still be connected through our efforts. I want people to feel hope — that the world can build a better future together.”
Why Japan’s Culture is Built on Wood, Not Stone and Bricks!
In February, Wood Central spoke to Graham Sayer, director of Japanese Lumber, and Simon Love, director of Japanese Timber Australia, who, together with Andrew Dunn, will host a dozen Australian architects and developers at the Expo.
“The timber culture comes down to the fact that bricks weren’t introduced here until the 1860s (by the Germans),” according to Sayer, a native New Zealander with deep relationships with sawmills and merchants across the country. “So it’s not a civilisation built on bricks (or stone) like many European civilisations.”
Home to some of the world’s oldest managed forests, Love said the origins of sustainable forest management date back to the 17th century: “It all started with the 1725 reforms…and the only hiccup came at the end of the Second World War – during the post-war rebuild – but the system of forest management goes back 300 years, centuries before PEFC and FSC certification.”
- To learn why Japan is leading the way in driving timber projects, click here for Wood Central’s special feature. To find out why a weak Japanese yen is fueling the wave of new timber projects across Asia, click here for more information.
