Less than a month before the World Expo kicks off in Osaka, Japan (slated to open April 13), crews are working against time to put the finishing touches on dozens of complex pavilions – many built using local Japanese cedar – including the host country’s pavilion, which is wrapping layers and layers of cross-laminated timber around a “monumental ring.”
Designed by Nendo and Nikken Sekkei and inspired by the theme between lives, “the (Japanese) pavilion allows visitors to experience a “singular cycle” with no beginning or end,” said Nendo, with all timber in the modular build to be disassembled and repurposed after the Expo.
Made up of 560 cross-laminated timber plates, all placed together in a giant ring formation, the 28 million visitors expected to attend the six-month Expo can view the interior and exterior through the cross-laminated timber, “symbolising the transitions between states of life.”
It comes as worrying reports coming out of Osaka reveal that just eight out of 47 country-specific pavilions – including Ireland, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Hungary – have had their pavilions certified by the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, with rising material costs, complex design and labour shortages causing headaches for the Expo organisers.
“It is true there is a risk that construction (of the pavilions) will not be finished in time for the expo’s opening,” according to Hiroyuki Ishige, secretary general of the Expo, who vowed to provide all necessary assistance to speed up construction to meet new deadlines.
Concerns over delays come after total construction costs for the “compact Expo” have ballooned to 235 billion yen (US $1.6 billion), with the Osaka prefectural, municipal government and private sector splitting the bill. The highlight of the Expo – half the size of the 1970 Expo with double the number of participants – is the giant ring, which earlier this month was recognised by the Guinness World Records for being the world’s largest wooden architectural structure, which will host all pavilions inside its walls.
Inside the ring, the pavilions, which have widely different features, are all unique in their way—the Swiss one is the lightest pavilion ever built, the Czech pavilion, known as Bohemian glass, is a glass spiral, whilst the Austrian pavilion is a 12-metre high mass timber superstructure shaped like a musical score. Then, there is the Sumitomo Forestry corporate pavilion, which uses cypress and cedar trees on its roof and walls, all coming from the company’s forests planted many years ago.
According to Kengo Kuma, the legendary Japanese architect responsible for Malaysia’s bamboo-inspired pavilion—one of the few to be certified—the 2025 Expo is poles apart from 1970: “Back then, there was a sense of the energy of the times, with the idea of building more and more,” Kuma said while visiting the site. “This time, the use of warm natural materials gives the whole venue a feeling of trying to live happily in a time of low enthusiasm [for growth].” Another “is a strong awareness of the 3Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – to promote sustainability,” he said.
Your chance to visit the Expo
Last month, Wood Central spoke to Andrew Dunn, organiser of an Australian study tour who will take a dozen architects, engineers, and construction professionals around the Expo’s pavilions in early May.
“Starting with the Tokyo Olympics and the Expo, what we are seeing coming out of Japan is remarkable,” said Mr Dunn, who will tour the world’s oldest surviving wooden building, a house production facility and several mass timber buildings rising across Tokyo’s skyline. “However, the highlight, without question, is the two days at the Expo, where we will explore the Grand Ring (one of the world’s largest timber structures ever constructed).”
- 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.
