Architecture firm Foster + Partners has unveiled its designs for Saudi Arabia‘s pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.
Located on the Yumeshima waterfront, the pavilion takes guests “on a journey of discovery and chance encounters that – layer by layer – paints a vivid picture of Saudi Arabian culture”, said Luke Fox, head of studio at Foster + Partners.
“Our design plays with scale, light, sound and texture to stimulate all of the senses, while showcasing some of the country’s most innovative and exciting accomplishments,” he added.
Per a statement from Foster + Partners, the pavilion will offer an immersive audiovisual experience to connect visitors with the “undiscovered wonders” of the kingdom.
Modelled on Saudi Arabia’s traditional villages, the World Expo pavilion is made from low carbon materials. It also includes solar technologies to generate electricity and adopts rainwater recycling.
Visitors enter the venue through a forecourt planted with native flora and walk through narrow streets that lead to the courtyard. This will be used as a space for quiet reflection during the day, and as a site for performances and events at night.
The pavilion’s immersive spaces are being designed in collaboration with the 59 Productions and Squint/Opera design studios.
“Architecture and story have been woven together via this uniquely collaborative design process,” said Leo Warner, director of 59 Productions.
World Expo to open in April 2025
He added: “The pavilion will be a social organism, incubating the work of contemporary Saudi practitioners in state-of-the-art facilities, and dynamically integrating their work into immersive experiences that evolve throughout the six months of Expo.”
Tony Miki, partner at Foster + Partners, said: “Creating a legacy for the pavilion, once the Expo comes to an end, has been central to the design process. The structure’s cladding is made from lightweight Saudi stone and designed to be efficiently deconstructed and reassembled, or completely reconfigured, to meet different requirements in a future location.”
Organised by the Bureau International des Expositions, Expo 2025 Osaka will open on Japan’s artificial island of Yumeshima on 13 April 2025 and will take place for six months.
The last World Expo was Expo 2020 Dubai, which was held in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Images courtesy of Foster + Partners
