As Osaka prepares to host Expo 2025 under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the event represents more than a showcase of innovation; it embodies architecture’s evolving role in addressing global challenges.
Saudi-Canadian architect Yazan Al Homsi sees the Expo as a crucial testing ground for cross-cultural design principles.
“What fascinates me about Osaka’s approach is the seamless integration of Eastern philosophical harmony with technological innovation,” Al Homsi observes. “This balanced dialogue between tradition and progress mirrors what we’re attempting to achieve in projects like The Line in Saudi Arabia.”
Circular Thinking: The Grand Ring and Architectural Unity
The Expo’s centerpiece, a 2km wooden “Grand Ring” designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, symbolizes unity through circular form and sustainable materials. “As we move into 2025, I see the forest as a model for architecture and society,” Fujimoto explained to Wallpaper magazine, emphasizing biomimicry as a guiding principle.
For Al Homsi, the Ring resonates with deeper architectural truths. “The circular form transcends cultural boundaries while the use of timber connects to vernacular traditions worldwide,” he notes. “Fujimoto has created what I would call ‘localized universality,’ a structure that speaks a global language through distinctly Japanese materials and sensibilities.”
This approach aligns with what Tadao Ando describes as architecture’s fundamental elements: “In all my works, light is an important controlling factor.” At Osaka, natural light interacts with the wooden Ring to create spaces that shift throughout the day, demonstrating how elemental architectural gestures can create universal experiences while remaining culturally specific.
The Grand Ring also serves a diplomatic function, as Fujimoto noted: “This is a really precious opportunity to show so many countries can come together.” This sentiment echoes Renzo Piano’s belief that “Architecture is a very powerful tool to express the values of openness and dialogue.”
Al Homsi points to the collaborative process behind the Expo as particularly significant. “What we’re witnessing in Osaka is architectural diplomacy in action,” he explains. “The dialogues happening between designers from different traditions are as important as the physical structures themselves.”
Cultural Fusion and Sustainable Innovation
Within the Ring, individual pavilions demonstrate how culturally specific approaches can address shared challenges. The Qatar Pavilion by Kengo Kuma exemplifies this fusion, blending traditional Qatari motifs with Japanese timber joinery techniques.
“The sustainability movement is global, but its execution is intensely local,” Al Homsi observes. “What Kuma achieves in the Qatar Pavilion demonstrates how vernacular wisdom from different regions can combine to create something more resilient than either tradition could produce independently.”
The Women’s Pavilion, designed by Yuko Nagayama, similarly embodies this principle through its focus on inclusivity and sustainability. For Sir David Adjaye, such approaches represent architecture’s essential purpose: “Buildings must reflect the stories of the people they serve, especially when those people have been marginalized.”
Foster + Partners’ Mobility Pavilion addresses transportation challenges through a design that Al Homsi describes as “technologically ambitious yet human-centered,” a balance he finds essential in contemporary architecture. “Technology serves us best when it enhances rather than replaces cultural identity,” he notes, reflecting his perspective that “perhaps the most defining aspect of contemporary architecture is its symbiotic relationship with technology.”
Resilience Amid Uncertainty
Despite its architectural ambitions, Expo 2025 has faced significant challenges: budget overruns, methane gas discoveries at the Yumeshima Island site, and construction delays. These obstacles resonate with what Daniel Libeskind calls architecture’s testimonial function: “Architecture is the language of memory,” including memories of difficulty and persistence.
“The challenges facing Osaka mirror the larger struggles of contemporary architecture,” Al Homsi reflects. “We design amid uncertainty, with climate change, resource constraints, and geopolitical tensions shaping our work as much as aesthetic considerations.”
Despite these difficulties, an Expo spokesperson told AP News: “Holding the Expo now could lead to stronger international relationships.” This optimism reflects Moshe Safdie’s belief that “the duty of architecture is to bring people together, physically and emotionally.”
Al Homsi sees particular value in Japan’s architectural response to constraints. “What distinguishes Japanese approaches from Western or Middle Eastern ones is their elegant embrace of limitation,” he notes. “In my work across cultural contexts, I’ve found that meaningful innovation often emerges from precisely such constraints.”
Towards a Collective Architectural Intelligence
The Expo arrives at a pivotal moment for global architecture, coinciding with the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 and its focus on “Intelligens.” For Al Homsi, these events collectively demonstrate architecture’s evolution toward what he terms “collaborative wisdom.”
“In a world where global and local narratives intersect,” he observes, “the architect’s role evolves beyond creating spaces into curating experiences that reflect the mosaic of human culture.”
As Burkina Faso-born architect Francis Kéré reminds us: “I believe that architecture is about serving people, and the best way to serve people is to understand them.” The Osaka Expo embodies this principle through designs that address universal human needs while honoring cultural specificity.
Despite its hurdles, Expo 2025 Osaka is becoming a laboratory for architectural innovation through collaboration, a proving ground for Zaha Hadid’s belief that “there are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?” Through its wooden Ring and diverse pavilions, the Expo demonstrates how global challenges might be addressed through architecture that honors both unity and diversity, tradition and innovation, East and West.
