Expo 2025 Osaka Grand Ring

Osaka, Japan, Asia Pacific

Completed · Cultural · Temporary Mass Timber Ring Structure · Temperate · 2025

The world's largest wooden structure — a 2km-circumference roofed ring built entirely from domestic Japanese cedar using traditional timber joinery techniques scaled with digital fabrication. Designed for disassembly and full material reuse after the Expo, the ring demonstrates circular construction at civic infrastructure scale.

Innovation highlights

• world's largest timber structure at 2km circumference
• traditional Japanese timber joinery (nuki) scaled via digital fabrication
• designed-for-disassembly with full material reuse post-Expo
• domestically sourced cedar reducing embodied carbon vs steel equivalent

Client / Developer

Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition

Architect

Sou Fujimoto Architects (concept); Obayashi, Takenaka, Shimizu JV (delivery)

Engineer

Arup Japan

Type

Temporary Mass Timber Ring Structure

#mass-timber #circular-construction #designed-for-disassembly #digital-fabrication #japan #temperate

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