13.04.2023 CENTRAL THEME OF THE GERMAN PAVILION AT EXPO 2025 – THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
CENTRAL THEME OF THE GERMAN PAVILION AT EXPO 2025 – THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
CONCEPT PRESENTATION IN BERLIN UNVEILS THE SUSTAINABLE GERMAN PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD EXPO
On Thursday, 13 April 2023 the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in Berlin presented the concept for the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. At the exhibition, the German contribution will draw both architecturally and thematically on the theme of the circular economy. Titled “Wa! Germany”, the Pavilion – with its circular buildings and exhibition designs – will make a lasting impression on visitors in the truest sense of the word, as, once again, Germany’s focus at the next World Expo will be on sustainability.
The German Pavilion, which is expected to attract millions of visitors in Osaka, Japan in 2025, will revolve thematically and architecturally around the circular economy. “It is self-evident, that this would be one of the central themes at such a global event where we are mutually seeking to find solutions for the future of our society. The commitment behind the German Pavilion is to convey to its visitors the concept of sustainability so important in Germany,” explains Patrick Specht, Commissioner General of the German Expo Pavilion from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
The circularity leitmotif is reflected in all aspects of Germany’s participation: in the Pavilion itself, the visitor experience, in the design and the technologies and future visions presented there. Translated into architectural terms, this corresponds to the shape of a circle. Instantly, this approach becomes immediately clear: seven circular structural elements made of wood invite visitors to share in a special experience. The Pavilion is a walkable exhibit space that gives an example of the impact architecture and urban development can have to promote more sustainability and circularity.
“Under the theme ‘Designing Future Societies for Our Lives’, the Expo 2025 Osaka also asks the question how to make sustainable buildings work in the future. That is the reason the German Pavilion aims to exemplify this concept on multiple levels: As a completely circular building, its distinguishing features include innovative, circular construction materials and minimization of use. This is topped off by an intelligent indoor climate design and a park as a functional, atmospherically tight landscape. The Pavilion merges architecture, landscape and exhibition into a unified whole, whilst pointing the way towards a circular future,” says Christian Tschersich, Partner at LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture.
As is conventional practice for German Expo Pavilions, the architectural concept derives from the exhibition’s idea: Visitors embark on an emotional and multisensory journey during which they learn about and grasp visions of what living in a circular society could be like. The exhibition experience targets the Japanese public. In fact, around 90% of the expected visitors will come from Japan itself. The exhibition is designed to be barrier-free and inclusive.
“In the German Pavilion, we want to showcase solutions for a circular world where we live and go about our business in harmony with nature. By experiencing the many inspiring examples, visitors will recognise that the time is ripe to mutually turn the ambitious visions of a circular world into reality,” says Dr Wiebke Hahn of facts and fiction, the company co-responsible for the concept behind the German Pavilion. “Visitors to the exhibition will become constantly immersed in new atmospheres, the contents of which are playfully conveyed. This is how complex themes can be made so emotionally tangible that they stick in the visitors’ memory and are emotionally addressed.”
The Pavilion’s title is equally “rounded off”: In Japanese, “Wa! Germany” has multiple positive connotations: one meaning of “Wa” is “circle” which fits perfectly with the leitmotif. Another meaning of the term can also refer to “harmony” and represents the unification of nature and technology, the objective of a circular economy. And finally, “Wa” is also an exclamation similar to “wow!”, thereby reflecting the enthusiasm that the Pavilion at the Expo is designed to inspire.
“When the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action was deciding on this exciting concept, it took into account the fact that the Expo theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” and the subtheme “Connecting Lives” Germany chose needed to be realised in both a succinct and appealing way, whilst also creating a seamless marriage between the pavilion’s architecture and its content. I believe, the Consortium has been managed to do so brilliantly. We are thrilled about the concept and eagerly looking forward to 2025,” says Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH. The Koelnmesse team will be organising and running the project on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The Laumann / Scheßl / Weismüller project management company is involved with the architectural supervision of the project.
Background information
Koelnmesse GmbH will be organising and running the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The “German Pavilion Consortium Expo 2025 Osaka” comprising the two companies facts and fiction (Cologne) and GL events (Lyon and Japan) is in charge of concept design, planning and realisation. facts and fiction is responsible for content, exhibition and media design, and the pavilion is being built by GL events. The architecture and spatial design come from LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (Berlin).