Netherlands Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka

One of the main challenges of this project was creating an experience where every element from the architecture down to the smallest design details, worked together to communicate a holistic story of a nation and its relationship with water. Another key challenge was building a temporary structure resilient enough to outlast the six months of the exposition, while also designing it for a second life beyond the event. From the outset, the consortium and client team aimed to build with repurposing in mind, ensuring the pavilion’s materials and structure could serve a future purpose once the exposition ended.

The Netherlands Pavilion invites global audiences to explore how living below sea level has shaped a uniquely Dutch mindset; one rooted in common ground, long-term thinking, and a deep respect for the forces of nature. This relationship with water, once adversarial, has evolved into a forward-looking partnership that embraces water as an ally in clean energy, climate adaptation, and sustainable living.

Following Tellart’s “design through discovery” approach, the Story and Form team crafted the “common ground” narrative, balancing the interests of all stakeholders into a single, poetic vision to guide the creative process.

Realized by a consortium of Tellart, RAU Architects, DGMR (Engineering), and Asanuma (Construction), the Pavilion was designed as a four-phase journey within a 1,157 m² space, unfolding through a personal orb given to each visitor. The design challenge was to ensure every element, from the architecture to each interactive touchpoint, worked in service of one coherent story, while also building a temporary structure durable enough to last the six-month exposition and designed from the outset for a second life beyond it. Execution combined architecture, interactive technology, and generative content: orb-activated walls, a 360° AI-generated film synced to individual visitors, and a collaborative infinity mirror installation were layered together so that narrative, technology, and physical space reinforced one another throughout the visitor experience.

Design Team

Tellart

Collaborators

RAU Architects (architecture)
Asanuma (construction)
DGMR (engineering)
BeWunder (fit-out and av hardware supplier)
Tellart Productions (media design)
Resonate (sound design)
Return to Earth Studio (ai film)
Kessels Kramer (graphic design)
Plomp (renders)
Studio the Future (cultural consultancy)
Cooloo (fixed furniture supplier)
Het Anker (NL) – Loose furniture supplier)
Studio Mae Engelgeer (curtain designer supplier)
Kojima Shoten Inc. (traditional japanese paper lanterns supplier)

Photo Credits

Tellart & Zhu Yumeng (photography)
Tellart (videography)

Open Date

April 2025