Uzbekistan Pavilion – Expo 2025 Osaka

The Uzbekistan Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, titled “Garden of Knowledge – A Laboratory for a Future Society”, translated the country’s cultural heritage and future ambitions into a contemporary architectural experience. Conceived as a social learning space, the pavilion explored how knowledge, education, innovation and sustainable development can shape a future society.

Its two-storey architecture was conceived as an archetypal Uzbek landscape. A solid base of brick and clay represented the earth, the roots and the country’s cultural heritage. Above it rose an open, eight-metre-high timber sculpture evoking a forest – a place of protection, encounter and the exchange of knowledge. The forest of columns referenced traditional temple and palace architecture, transforming this spatial principle into an open, accessible and contemporary structure.

Sustainability was embedded in the pavilion’s material and construction concept. Natural and reusable materials including timber, clay, brick, gravel and earth were combined with modular construction. Regional Japanese sugi timber formed the wooden structure, while reclaimed bricks and locally sourced clay and earth reduced the use of new resources. Components were designed for disassembly and reuse, extending the life of the architecture beyond the Expo.

Inside, architecture and exhibition formed one continuous spatial narrative. Interactive models, projections, light and a rising platform guided visitors through themes of sustainability, innovation and education before opening onto the rooftop terrace. The journey followed the metaphor of growth – from a seed taking root in the soil to blossoming and bearing fruit.

This legacy is now becoming tangible: the pavilion’s modular wooden sculpture is currently being reconstructed in Nukus, Uzbekistan, as part of a children’s library and cultural campus. In its second life, the architecture continues to create social and educational value beyond the temporary framework of the Expo.