Inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the theme of the World Expo 2025 is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” Taking place in Osaka and featuring pavilions by 41 nations, the expo is divided into numerous zones and features eight Signature Pavilions: Better Co-Being; Future of Life; Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion; Dynamic Equilibrium of Life; Live Earth Journey; Earth Mart; Dialogue Theatre – sign of life; and Null2 . Certain to be a highlight: Shigeru Ban’s Blue Ocean Dome, a pavilion for the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision, which aims to reduce pollution caused by marine plastic waste to zero by 2050.
Among the national pavilions, where countries and nation states show off their architectural visions for the future while embracing progressive themes of sustainability and inclusivity, French architecture studio Coldefy and Italian practice CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati contribute “Theatre of Nature,” with an evocative central spiral stair; Uzbekistan presents “Garden of Knowledge,” by Germany’s Atelier Brückner, its façade featuring symbolic patterns derived from traditional embroidery and ornaments; and Canada shows off “Regeneration,” by a design team including Rayside Labossière Architects and Guillaume Pelletier and inspired by the thawing of frozen waterways at the onset of spring.
