Swiss Pavilion Could Be Big Hit At Lacklustre World Expo

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Expo 2025 is due to open in Osaka, Japan, on April 13. Interest in this World's Fair among the Japanese themselves is muted at best. Switzerland has a chance to shine with an innovative pavilion. This content was published on March 12, 2025 - 09:00 8 minutes

I adapt stories into Japanese and am responsible for the weekly "Press Review" from Switzerland in Japanese. I'm especially interested in Swiss politics, economics and finance. I worked at the Japanese media organisation Nikkei for 8 years where I was responsible for covering ministers, the Bank of Japan and financial markets. I have been working for SWI swissinfo since 2016.

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• Deutsch de Der Schweizer Pavillon soll an kriselnder Expo in Osaka auftrumpfen Read more: Der Schweizer Pavillon soll an kriselnder Expo in Osaka auftrumpfe
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• Português pt Expo 2025 em Osaka enfrenta desinteresse do público enquanto Suíça destaca inovação Read more: Expo 2025 em Osaka enfrenta desinteresse do público enquanto Suíça destaca inovaçã
• 日本語 ja 超軽量スイス館 大阪・関西万博の「成功」に向け完成間近 Original Read more: 超軽量スイス館 大阪・関西万博の「成功」に向け完成間
• 中文 zh 瑞士馆将在冷清的大阪世博会闪亮登场 Read more: 瑞士馆将在冷清的大阪世博会闪亮登

James Wolfensberger from Zurich will be spending a few weeks in Japan this April, admiring the cherry blossoms and seeing a few old friends. He also plans to visit the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.“What's important to me is the 'feeling' when I look at an exhibition or a building,” says the 63-year-old computer scientist, who is also a video artist in his spare time.“I am looking forward to the Expo, where I will be able to experience things that I can't find on TV or the internet.”

Manuel Herz's design took into account the fact that the Expo will only last six months and that all the buildings will have to be demolished after the end of the event. Copyright: Manuel Herz Architects

The Swiss pavilion should meet Wolfensberger's expectations. It's also likely to be one of the main attractions at this Expo. Designed by Manuel Herz with his Basel-based architecture firm and developed together with design studio Bellprat Partner and the construction company Nüssli, it will have the“smallest possible environmental footprint of Expo 2025”, says Herz. In other words, the pavilion will have a minimal impact on the natural world, from the building phase to the dismantling afterwards.

Herz tells SWI swissinfo that the main consideration he had when designing the structure was that the Expo would last just six months, and the pavilion would have to be dismantled at the end.“Sustainability has become one of the most important factors in contemporary architecture and construction,” he says. Accordingly, the Swiss pavilion will feature light building materials and a modular structure. The plan is for the entire pavilion to be recycled after the event, and maybe put up elsewhere in Japan.

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