Expo Osaka 2025 – Sou Fujimoto
A gridded wooden structure formed using traditional joinery makes up The Grand Ring, which Japanese studio Sou Fujimoto Architects has used to encircle the Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan. At 61,035 square metres, it is the largest wooden architectural structure in the world, according to Guinness World Records.
The Grand Ring was designed by Sou Fujimoto Architects as Expo 2025 Osaka’s main circulation route, but also to provide spaces for visitors to take shelter from rain, wind and sun. Its circular design, which has a circumference of two kilometres and a diameter of 700 metres, is intended to symbolise unity between the 150 participating countries.
The Grand Ring has a modular, dismantlable wooden structure that marries modern and traditional construction techniques, such as Nuki joints – a Japanese connection in which a horizontal beam is slotted through a vertical post, often seen in traditional temples and shrines.
Approximately 70 per cent of the timber used for the structure was sourced in Japan, including cedar and cypress, while the remaining 30 per cent is foreign Scots pine. The circulation route, named The Ring Skywalk, is elevated 12 metres on top of the structure and accessed by escalators and lifts. There is a lower and upper level, providing views out over Osaka and Osaka Bay, and back into the Expo site.
