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.
“Expos bring all the wonder of each different country and then stay there for six months,” architect Sou Fujimoto told Dezeen.
“And this format, I thought, is very precious, especially in this crisis of the global situation.”
The Expo 2025 Osaka takes place on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay.
It was masterplanned by Sou Fujimoto Architects in collaboration with fellow Japanese studios Tohata Architects & Engineers and Azusa Sekkei.
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.
As with the majority of structures at the Expo 2025 Osaka, The Grand Ring was designed to be dismantled.
However, a final decision is yet to be made about whether or not it will be taken down and repurposed or preserved in part or in full.
Among the national pavilions contained within The Grand Ring are the boat-like Bahrain Pavilion by Lina Ghotmeh and the theatrical France Pavilion by Coldefy and Carlo Ratti Associati.
These featured in our roundup of 10 stand-out pavilions at Expo 2025 Osaka, which also included The Ocean Dome by Shigeru Ban, which sits just outside of The Grand Ring.
The video is by Expo 2025 Osaka and the photography is by Lizzie Crook.
Expo 2025 Osaka takes place in Osaka until 13 October 2025. For more fairs, events and talks in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide.
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