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Sou Fujimoto shares new photos of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai master plan under construction

2024-04-01T15:46:00-04:00

Sou Fujimoto’s studio has shared new construction images of the forthcoming Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai's The Grand Roof circular wooden container structure, a year ahead of the start of the six-month fair, which begins on April 13th, 2025.

The enormous structure is 1,969 feet (600 meters) in diameter and will serve as the main circulatory route for the exhibition, which includes 161 total participating countries/locations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto)

Fujimoto’s team says their design is meant to evoke a sense of "Unity in Diversity" and takes the Stage of Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto and other historic examples of Japanese timber architecture as its inspiration.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto)

It will support an aerial walkway that affords visitors sightlines into the arena-like layout encased on the manmade Yumeshima island below and divided into three zones (Pavi...

Trahan Architects unveils U.S. pavilion design for Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai

2024-02-08T15:06:00-05:00

Trahan Architects has unveiled its USA Pavilion design for World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. The county’s official entry will play host to a slate of exhibitions designed to showcase American scientific exploration and entrepreneurship and will be completed by an official project team that includes HOOD Design, Dot Dash, and several other specialty studios.

Chicago's former Mayor and the current U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, says it will stand as "an embodiment of American spirit." Organizers are expecting approximately 30 million visitors.

Image: © Trahan Architects

Visitors will pass through a ringed wall that surrounds the Expo before entering the pavilion, which is separated into two wings that are connected via a suspended cubic form serving as a skybridge.

Image: © Trahan Architects

Exterior LED screens installed on its facade will broadcast scenes of America’s urban and natural landscapes. The project reuses steel, HVAC systems, and tensile fabric used in structures o...

Coldefy and Carlo Ratti Associati unveil France’s pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka behind curtain facade

2024-01-12T14:46:00-05:00

A team comprising Coldefy and Carlo Ratti Associati has unveiled their design for France’s national pavilion at World Expo Osaka 2025.

Titled ‘Theatrum Naturae,’ meaning ‘Theatre of Nature,’ the pavilion is inspired by France’s natural landscapes, with a “looping narrative path” that suggests “new entanglements between humans and other forms of life in our cities.”

Image credit: Coldefy and Carlo Ratti Associati

The pavilion features a single pathway that guides visitors through three experiences: Ascent, Discovery of Nature, and Return to the Ground. The experience begins with a staircase that winds to form an observation balcony. The staircase weaves in and out of the pavilion’s porous curtain facade, offering views of the building’s interior before culminating at a heavily vegetated terrace.

Image credit: Coldefy and Carlo Ratti Associati

“The French Pavilion invites visitors to enter the theater of life,” said Coldefy founding partner Thomas Coldefy about the scheme. “Both actors...

Cartier dazzles with new Hinoki facade designed by Klein Dytham

2021-06-27T08:46:00-04:00

A new storefront for Cartier’s Osaka operations has been unveiled, bringing a decorative feel to the city’s glittering Shinsaibashi district with a glowing facade composed of over 2,500 interlocking three-dimensional masu boxes handcrafted by master carpenters in Kyoto.

Tokyo-based Klein Dytham Architecture wrapped the luxury retailer in an Hinoki wood facade using a recycled aluminum framework meant to mirror the brand’s commitment to sustainability.

The high-end store's wooden facade is composed of more then 2.500 diamond-shaped boxes. Images courtesy KDa.

The structure can be illuminated thanks to built-in LED lights and is complete with a double-height arched window entrance that gives a sharp contrast to nearby glass-curtained retail establishments.

The high-end store's wooden facade is composed of more then 2.500 diamond-shaped boxes. Images courtesy KDa.

KDa was able to place the facade in a narrow 200mm boundary area.

The store’s ground floor features a fragrance bar decorat...

Super Nintendo World theme park opening now scheduled for February 4

2020-12-01T14:04:00-05:00

Universal Studios Japan plans to open its $580 million Nintendo attraction on Feb. 4, finally debuting a long-delayed effort to introduce Mario and other beloved characters to real-world theme park visitors. Super Nintendo World, built on the existing Universal Studios Japan site, is envisioned as a life-sized replica of Nintendo Co.’s most popular games with rides, shops and walk-through activities.

Bloomberg reports that a Mario Kart ride inside a recreation of Bowser's Castle would be one of Super Nintendo World's first attractions.

Image courtesy of Nintendo.

The ambitious half-billion dollar theme park was originally scheduled to open last summer, but the global coronavirus outbreak forced the launch to be pushed back by several months. With the vaccine rollout likely to take well into next spring and summer, it remains to be seen if the February opening is achievable.

If you can't wait that long but are dying to dissect Nintendo worlds and environments, check out Ryan Scavnicky's architectural review of Super Mario Bros.

Super Nintendo World theme park to open in Japan this summer

2020-01-15T14:51:00-05:00

Super Nintendo World, the Mario-themed expansion to Universal Studios, is shaping up to be one of the most interesting and tech-infused theme park attractions to date. The park, launching ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of Universal Studios Japan in the city of Osaka, will feature wearable wrist bands called “Power Up Bands” that will sync with a smartphone app and track digital activities while you walk around

After breaking ground on its ambitious high-tech theme park, Super Nintendo World, in 2017, Universal Studios Japan unveiled more details this week about the anticipated destination slated to open in Osaka this summer.

"A life-size, living video game" -- Thierry Coup shows us the new app used to enjoy Super Nintendo World with a wrist band, touting an interactive experience #Nintendo pic.twitter.com/n468l5elnO
— Kurumi Mori (@rumireports) January 14, 2020

While official images of the park's architecture and spatial design are still under wraps, Super Nintendo World's operators already previewed some of the tech features and released a sugary-sweet teaser video featuring pop stars Galantis and Charli XCX.

Video via Nintendo on youTube.

If the upbeat game aesthetic centered around a fictional Italian plumber isn't your thing, another pillar of Japanese popular culture is currently building a theme park dedicated to Hayao Miyazaki's vast universe of worlds and characters: a Studio Ghi...

Take a look at 'Spatial Bodies', a surreal vision of urbanity

2016-07-13T13:43:00-04:00

Spatial Bodies was created by AUJIK, a self-described "mysterious nature/tech cult," with music composed by Daisuke Tanabe. Filmed in Osaka, Japan, the video is "the urban landscape and architectural bodies as an autonomous living and self replicating organism," according to the description on Vimeo.

"Domesticated and cultivated only by its own nature," read the description. "A vast concrete vegetation, oscillating between order and chaos."

According to their Vimeo page, AUJIK has been around since the 1990s, "quietly [spreading] across video platforms featuring proposed active members and fabricated histories."

Check it out below:

Spatial Bodies from AUJIK on Vimeo.

Hideyuki Nakayama's lighting shield design for "My Thread" film exhibition curated by Eizo Okada

2013-10-22T13:55:00-04:00

"My Thread - New Dutch Design on Films" is a film exhibition curated by Eizo Okada and designed by architect Hideyuki Nakayama, who also built Okada's Kyoto "O" House and was on the design team for Toyo Ito's Tama Art University Library. As part of one of Japan's biggest design events this past September, the 4th annual DESIGN EAST, the exhibition featured eight films that highlights eight emerging Dutch designers, their backgrounds, and their work process. Aside from Okada's films, another aspect of the exhibition was Nakayama's design of the space.

Set on the top floor of a former shipyard building with no air-conditioning or fans and with eight projection screens, the biggest challenge Okada and Nakayama faced was how to ensure ventilation so viewers can comfortably watch the films. As a solution, Nakayama designed a horizontal lighting shield called "5F".

Here are the project details from the press release, provided by Eizo Okada:

"The exhibition will be held at the top-flo...