Guests on Earth
The Netherlands Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka was designed by RAU for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It starts from a simple observation: we are guests on Earth. The planet is a closed system. Nothing new is added, so everything that does not grow is limited.
From this follow two challenges: ending our dependence on fossil energy and stopping the waste of materials. The pavilion answers both, with a circular approach to materials and with energy that is inexhaustible and free of emissions. The aim is not to optimise the current system, but to change it. Because these challenges are shared worldwide, countries can only solve them together.
Common ground
“Common ground” is the central idea of the Dutch presence at Expo 2025. It stands for a way of solving problems together, rooted in centuries of protecting the Dutch lowlands from rising water. The theme also marks 425 years of relations between Japan and the Netherlands.
Each visitor receives a personal Orb, an interactive device that powers the installations and responds to them. In this way, the pavilion becomes an open meeting place where ideas and expertise are shared.
A New Dawn
The design takes its cue from the Tower of the Sun by Taro Okamoto, made for Expo 1970 in Osaka. The tower carries three suns: one for the past, one for the present and a golden one for the future. At the heart of the Netherlands Pavilion stands a sphere of 10.6 metres in diameter, the same size as Okamoto’s sun of the future. As a result, the pavilion picks up the optimism of 1970 and carries it into the present.
Structure
The pavilion consists of two volumes. One holds the event space; the other holds the experience, a shop and a café. Together, they carry the sphere and the roof, a literal expression of common ground.
The main structure is steel and weighs 1,620 tonnes. Japanese regulations for earthquakes and typhoons require almost twice as much steel as a comparable building in Europe. On the roof, a polished stainless steel sheet of about 15 by 40 metres mirrors the sphere for visitors on the surrounding timber ring. Inside, a mirrored ceiling makes the whole sphere visible.
A material depot, designed to move on
The pavilion was built for six months. However, the most circular choice is not to throw a building away at all. The Netherlands Pavilion was therefore designed to be taken down and rebuilt elsewhere.
The structure, facade and finishes can all be disassembled. Joints and screws are left visible, and every element is connected so it can be released again. Moreover, each element has its own identity, recorded in a material passport in Madaster. After the Expo, the pavilion is to be packed into shipping containers, moved and given a new purpose.
Circularity and the Edonomy
About 200 years ago, Edo, today’s Tokyo, was a city almost without waste. Because Japan barely traded with other countries, materials stayed in a closed cycle. Metals, wood scraps, paper and bark fibres were reused, repaired and recycled. At the same time, a reforestation policy planted millions of trees to restore the landscape. This “Edonomy” is one of the first well-documented examples of a large closed system working on circular principles. The Netherlands Pavilion builds on that idea and invites visitors to consider their own role in a future without waste.
