The German Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 is a manifesto of the healing potential of “cradle-to-cradle” design and proof of its realistic emergence, educating visitors on the impact of architecture on the planet.

With the purpose of an Expo providing an international stage for experimental thinking and innovative solutions, LAVA elected to tackle the impact of the built environment on the planet through the German Pavilion aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Under the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” LAVA activates a circular pavilion titled “Wa! Germany.” “Wa” means “circle” or “harmony” in Japanese. The pavilion invites the public to follow an accessible spiraling pathway through a series of cylindrical structures while collectively contemplating the possibilities of a circular economy. Through analysis of conventionally designed and built Expo pavilions, an opportunity to drastically minimize the use of concrete foundations and maximize the efficient use of natural and recyclable materials and sourcing them locally to reduce transport emissions was identified. Every decision carefully considers the interconnections and dependencies of resource and material cycles.

The pavilion design goes beyond the limited scope of sustainability, becoming a living “material repository” where visitors can learn how each element spends a portion of its much longer life until it is dismantled and reused, thanks to reversible construction techniques. Each material, including prefabricated cylindrical glulam, steel, and bamboo, will be recycled and reused after the Expo. This provides a framework for two ensembles to be filled with locally available secondary and organic materials. It combines traditionally sustainable materials such as rammed earth with new developments from materials science, including panels made from fungal mycelium, which eventually will compost.

The outdoor design of the pavilion is also of equal importance: an open-air event space is surrounded by planting that purifies water and produces food. The garden temporarily hosts 21 trees, bamboo, and rhododendrons on loan from an Osaka nursery whilst green roofs and shady, climate-resilient reeds and grasses cool the air flowing through the pavilion. The flow of water is strategically integrated as a learning experience for visitors; with flash flooding and extreme heat events increasing globally, water security is a crucial challenge for urbanists of this century. Historical daily precipitation data, considering both average rainfall as well as typhoons, informed permeable paving, gravel trenches, and open gutters that connect to a rainwater storage tank and bioswales that maintain soil humidity. Together, these steps prevent stress on the Expo rainwater pipe, reducing the possibility of flooding.

From the structure to the navigation and the landscape, the shape of the circle permeates as a poetic symbol, seeking to emotionally connect visitors to the pavilion’s manifesto for a promising future. Capturing the power of circular design in architecture, society, and experience, the German Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 represents in both form and function the fusion of the technological and biological spheres, offering a multisensory, immersive spatial experience to interactively educate and poetically engage its audience in construction and creation.

Category:Green ArchitectureYear:2025Location: Osaka, JapanArchitects:LAVA - Laboratory for Visionary Architecture Berlin GmbHArchitects of Record:Azusa Sekkei Co., Ltd.Landscape Architects:Henning Larsen Architects and Ryokukou GardenGeneral Contractor:GL Events Japan K.K.Design Team:Tobias Wallisser and Christian Tschersich with Daniel Podrasa, Julia Sierpien, Giada Mirizzi, Philipp Farana, Tongobi Li, Thijs Maas Geesteranus, Nikolai Zaitsev, Margarita Volkova, and Leila WallisserExhibition Designers:facts and fiction GmbHStructural:STR.ucture and Azusa SekkeiMEP:IGTechFire:brand+Lighting Design:L2 AtelierClient:German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy; Management: Koelnmesse GmbH; Consortium: ARGE Duetscher Pavillon EXPO 2025 Osaka / facts and fiction GmbH / GL Events Live SA / GL Events Japan K.K.Photographers:LAVA and Hotaka Matsumara