With the official opening of Expo 2025 Osaka just over five months away, organizers have shared a dramatic aerial video of its finally illuminated ring structure.  The wooden Grand Ring structure designed by Sou Fujimoto is equal to 1,969 feet (600 meters) in diameter, serving as the main... View full entry

Tadao Ando’s close three-decade building relationship with the Benesse Art Site in western Japan will celebrate a new milestone next spring with the opening of the Naoshima New Museum of Art, his tenth contribution for the cultural destination on Naoshima Island. The scheme sighted the more than... View full entry

WHY Architecture has shared the first images of its design for the Yoshimoto Pavilion as part of the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka, which takes place from April 13th to October 13th next year. The spherical waraii myraii (or 'a smiling future') design will host a cultural exchange based around a... View full entry

MAD Architects has unveiled a captivating installation that resembles a bubble being gently blown from a traditional wooden structure.  Called the “Ephemeral Bubble,” the project was created for the 2024 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, an outdoor art exhibition held every three years in... View full entry

A major Japanese homebuilder by the name of Sekisui House has decided to demolish a nearly completed condominium building in western Tokyo following complaints from locals that the building would have blocked views of Mount Fuji. As reported by The Asahi Shimbun, the company decided to cancel... View full entry

Lina Ghotmeh’s design for the official National Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain for Expo 2025 Osaka has been revealed along with details of what she calls a “celebration of the bilateral relations” between the Gulf state and Expo’s host nation. The Lebanese-born French... View full entry

A team of researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University has developed a new mechanoluminescent construction material they say can be used in infrastructure to monitor daily use stress information in real-time in order to avert potential future catastrophes that may result from its aging stock of... View full entry

Fumihiko Maki, the 1993 Pritzker Prize laureate and a leading figure in Japan's Metabolism movement, passed away in Tokyo on June 6th, his Maki and Associates firm announced late Tuesday. He was 95.  Maki was born in Tokyo in 1928 and immigrated to America to study at the Cranbrook... View full entry

BIG has designed a new remote hotel concept on Sagi Island, Japan, for the NOT A HOTEL brand, its sixth property overall. The new Setouchi project follows other hospitality designs from the firm, including the new Hôtel des Horlogers in Switzerland and Vollebak Island in Canada. Rendering: MIR... View full entry

The Sou Fujimoto-designed wooden Grand Ring roof for the upcoming Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, is coming together just under a year before the fair officially opens to the public on April 13th, 2025.  As detailed in an earlier construction update, the structure will be realized at 1,969 feet... View full entry

New government figures show that 5.9% of all Japanese homes are abandoned, while 13.88% of homes are vacant (a total of 9 million homes). The issue is predominantly impacting the country's rural areas, while the number of vacant and abandoned apartments and condo units is also increasing. Several... View full entry

Snøhetta has announced a new regeneration project with the Japanese private environmental agency BOND. The scheme for a yet-unnamed national park has several planned outcomes aimed a different social and environmental issues in Japan, which is experiencing a crisis of aging and still recovering... View full entry

Japanese practice Makoto Yamaguchi Design has completed a headquarters for a game production company in Tokyo inspired by video game elements.  Facing the site of an elevated railway where trains pass on average every 1.5 minutes in both directions, the scheme is defined by slanted walls in... View full entry

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... View full entry

Pelli Clarke & Partners has shared news of their completed work on the Mori JP Tower project inside the Azabudai Hills District in Tokyo. The new tallest building in Japan is a 64-story mixed-used design complementing the two other high-rise structures included in the redevelopment district and... View full entry