Osaka is hosting an International Exposition for the third time in its history, following the 1970 and 1990 editions. The theme chosen for EXPO 2025 is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives", starting with the urban transformation of the artificial island of Yumeshima, where a huge continuous wooden structure has been built. Designed by Sou Fujimoto, the epitome of contemporary Japanese architecture, the Grand Ring, with a circumference of about 2 km, gathers all the temporary international pavilions, which number more than 150.
Predictably, there is no shortage of big names in architecture. At the centre of the EXPO site, in the "Forest of Tranquillity", stands the ethereal pavilion without roof or walls by the SANAA studio, winner of the RIBA 2025 gold medal.
But it is Kengo Kuma Architects who seem to be the star of this edition, with no less than three representative pavilions: Malaysia, Qatar and Portugal. Foster + Partners, the studio led by Norman Foster, guest editor of Domus 2024, is behind the design for the Saudi Arabia pavilion; Lina Ghotmeh designed the Bahraini pavilion, while France chose the Italian Carlo Ratti - this year's curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale - in collaboration with the studio Coldefy.
Outside the area enclosed by the Grand Ring are the national pavilions, led by the main Japanese pavilion, designed by Nikken Sekkei and Oki Sato (Nendo), where wood is once again the main material. Then there's the Women's Pavilion, in collaboration with Cartier and designed by Yuko Nagayama Associates, and the pavilions of the private sector, such as the remarkable Blue Ocean Dome by Shigeru Ban, which incorporates his signature construction technique of paper tubes in one of the domes.
This selection, curated by Domus, provides an overview of the most interesting pavilions at Expo 2025, both for those who plan to visit them and for those who will only see them in pictures.
Opening image: Qatar Pavilion. From the Coastline, We Progress, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Expo 2025 Osaka. Photo © Iwan Baan. Courtesy Qatar Museums