UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
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https://www.archdaily.com/1018594/uae-pavilion-announces-participation-in-expo-2025-osaka-with-groundbreaking-ceremony
The UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, titled “Earth to Ether,” presents an immersive, multisensory experience that narrates the story of the United Arab Emirates, from its cultural heritage and core values to its forward-looking innovations. Inspired by the symbolic date palm, the pavilion reimagines areesh, a traditional form of Emirati vernacular architecture, by combining agricultural byproducts from date palms with refined Japanese woodworking techniques. Opened in April 2025, under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the pavilion is located in the “Empowering Lives” zone. Designed to work under the broader theme, the UAE Pavilion offers diverse programming and interactive exhibits and serves as a collaborative platform for co-creating solutions that “drive collective progress.”
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UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
The UAE Pavilion is the result of a collaboration led by the Earth to Ether Collective, an interdisciplinary team operating at the crossroads of architecture, engineering, technology, craftsmanship, and design. Initiated by the UAE Expo Office and driven by a shared creative vision, the collective brought together artists, poets, and architects to shape a pavilion rooted in cultural narrative and material innovation. The design leadership includes Mariam Almemari, Shaikha Al Ketbi, Shamma Al Bastaki, and Omar Al Suwaidi, who guided the project alongside a global network of partners. These include Rimond, a Milan-based design-build firm overseeing the project’s realization with local Japanese subcontractors; Process Iguchi and Shelter, specialists in Japanese woodworking and timber technology, who developed sustainable construction elements using date palm waste; and Atelier Brückner, who crafted the pavilion’s multisensory visitor journey. Supporting the narrative layer is R/O/U/Y/A, a UAE-based storytelling consultancy, while SLA contributed a landscape design that bridges nature and architecture through a nature-based approach.
UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
Material innovation and cross-cultural dialogue form the foundation of the UAE Pavilion’s architectural and landscape design. At its core are 90 signature rachis columns, crafted using agricultural waste from date palms, sourced through a newly established supply chain co-developed with farmers across the UAE and the MENA region. This approach places both people and ecology at the center of the design process. Complementing this, the pavilion’s entrance features pavers made from Datecrete, a cement alternative produced from crushed date seeds by UAE-based material innovators.
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UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
The surrounding landscape extends the narrative, bridging Emirati and Japanese traditions through design. Japanese satoyama ecosystems are evoked with oak and red pine trees, while a Japanese cedar pergola offers shaded spaces beneath a canopy inspired by khoos, a traditional Emirati palm-frond weaving technique. Outdoor furniture combines recycled date palm waste and Dateform, another UAE-made material. Building on a legacy of collaboration, from Expo ’70 in Osaka to Expo 2020 Dubai, the pavilion reflects a continued commitment to sustainable innovation, material experimentation, and cultural exchange, reaffirming the enduring partnership between the UAE and Japan.
UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
UAE Pavilion at the Expo Osaka 2025. Image Courtesy of UAE Expo Office
Expo Osaka 2025 has opened to visitors on April 13, 2025, and will conclude on October 13, 2025. Following the tradition of World Expos, this year the event, under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” aims to showcase new technologies and innovations while encouraging critical discussions around the built environment. At the center of the Expo grounds stands the Grand Ring, a monumental circular structure designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. Spanning approximately 2 kilometers in circumference and rising to 20 meters in height, the timber structure encircles the main exhibition area and was recognised by Guinness World Records as “The largest wooden architectural structure”. More from the national pavilions include the German Pavilion, designed by LAVA Architects, the Portugal Pavilion, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, the national pavilion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia designed by Foster + Partners, and the Bahrain Pavilion, designed by Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily’s comprehensive coverage of the Expo Osaka 2025.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on July 08, 2024, and updated on June 12, 2025, to include photographs of the exhibit.
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