The Philippine Pavilion in the World Expo 2025 in Osaka will have many firsts not only for the country but most likely in world architecture. Drawing inspiration from weaving—the craftsmanship that has become the pride of the Philippines, across its archipelago—the pavilion’s architecture will mirror the sturdiness of warp and weft, a symbol of the nation’s strength, unity and creativity. It will be constructed using over a thousand pieces of “threads” representing woven rattan.
The Pavilion will have an interactive facade featuring dynamic live performances of a dance troupe, reportedly the first time such an interactive, live feature on the facade is to be executed in the World Expo.
It will adhere to the principle of sustainability—the art structures can be disassembled and reconstituted for presentation all the Philippines after the six-month-long World Expo.
The architecture firm CarloCalma Consultancy won the bid for the design and execution of the Philippine Pavilion in the World Expo that opens in April 2025. The Pavilion design was unveiled July 16, 2024 at a cocktail reception at Ayala Museum.
To mark the unveiling, TheDiarist.ph does the Q/A with Calma and his staff:
From what concept and point of view are you coming from in designing the Philippine Pavilion?
The pavilion’s design draws inspiration from the metaphorical concept of “woven.” Its architecture mirrors the sturdy structure of warp and weft, the two fundamental elements in weaving, symbolizing the enduring strength of community, unity and creativity. Constructed with over a thousand pieces of woven rattan expression of “threads,” the pavilion exemplifies the scalability of weaving, beyond traditional furniture scale and onto a building scale.
This architectural piece serves as testament to the future of handicraft, emphasizing its significance in an evolving digital landscape and celebrating the labor of love inherent in Filipino craftsmanship. Symbolic threads adorn the pavilion giving the illusion of continuous movement.
As tribute to our indigenous culture, 212 woven textiles provide a vibrant touch of color to the Pavilion’s natural-colored façade, each encapsulated within a weather-sealed assembly, allowing the fabrics to sway with the wind, symbolizing our history of resilience.
What of the Filipino would you want your design to convey primarily?
The Philippine Pavilion stands as tribute to the Filipino creativity that is empowering. Its façade meticulously handcrafted by a cross-generation of artisans, the Pavilion serves as a poignant reflection of the Filipino labor of love, a testament to the intricate craftsmanship and dedication that binds our culturally diverse communities. There’s strength in our differences. The Pavilion embodies the Filipino strength, the transformative power of our collective spirit.
How will it be an immersive experience for visitors?
Featuring woven artworks and a colorful AI dancing fiesta, the design inside the pavilion is meant to be a spectacular experience. To inspire people to visit and fall in love with the Philippines, Tellart is designing the guest experience to highlight how nature, culture and community can be woven together for a better future.
At the entrance, visitors will be welcomed by hosts into a space of media installation of colorful projections on hanging threads. This, amid the rhythm of weaving looms that creates a sense of anticipation.
Guests will walk through a forest of exquisitely woven artworks, divided into Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The visitors can walk up close to see the intricate details that delineate each region.
From the coral enclaves of the Mimaropa’s seas of southwestern Tagalog region (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) to the Eastern Visayas and its indigenous recipes, each artwork tells a compelling story of a region, defined by intricate patterns, vibrant colors, and evocative designs.
This design endeavor showcases the skills of weavers and their niche in Philippine culture. Eighteen textile designs that tell a story represent different destinations in the Philippines, each with distinct character, rich history, cherished traditions. The artworks will mirror a nation’s diversity.
The Filipino weavers have sourced sustainable raw materials diligently from across the archipelago, including natural fibers and yarns. It’s taken them eight months to handcraft each textile by hand— a labor of love by Filipino artisans in what must be the largest weaving collaboration of its kind, celebrating material sustainability, traditional techniques, and community craftsmanship.
The Filipino fiesta spirit will permeate the Pavilion, with the use of interactive AI technology that allows people to move and play. Such immersive design is the product of deep research into our traditions and indigenous culture.
Live performances will create the fiesta ambiance. There will also be an AI photobooth, a gift shop, a café, and a place for wellness therapy.
Many of the bespoke artworks will be around after Expo 2025 in traveling shows around the country to entice people to rediscover the Philippines and its uniqueness.
Can you elaborate on the material content of the Pavilion?
The Pavilion’s commitment to use natural materials is a significant endeavor of sustainability and environmental responsibility. Specifically, the incorporation of natural rattan serves as a clear tribute to the abundant biodiversity in the Philippines. The move celebrates the nation’s diverse ecosystems and the material resources in Philippine culture.
Rattan weaving has been passed on from one generation to another. In choosing rattan, the pavilion pays homage to skilled Filipino weavers, highlighting the importance of preserving the indigenous material and craft in a globalized world. Indigenous textiles in the Philippines come from natural fibers such as abaca, silk, pineapple, banana, and bamboo, embodying a tradition that harmonizes culture with nature.
The Pavilion is conceived as a celebration of a deep, firm connection between nature and culture, to be preserved for future generations.
Can you give details about the Pavilion’s concept of sustainability?
Life-after-the-Expo circularity
Circularity is a theme of the Philippine Pavilion, meant to ensure that a structure that needs to stand for six months uses materials that are sustainable and follow clear circularity principles of Reduce, Repair, Refurbish, Recycle. The design team is committed to planning and building the experience using these circularity design principles at the core.
Furthermore, we focus specifically on indigenous renewable materials, materials handmade in the Philippines, and ensuring modular disassembly and relocation for a second life back home on Philippine soil.
Indigenous renewable materials
We are committed to upcycling—using transformed, recycled, and renewable natural materials in the textile weaves and products of the retail area. This stands for Filipino creativity and resourcefulness and a commitment to nature.
Handmade in the Philippines
We will need to build in the Philippines, which gives us a chance to not only manage the surge in Japanese construction costs, but also to bring the best of the Philippines, straight from the communities, to the Expo.
Second life b ack home
We will design for shipping, assembly, disassembly, shipping and installation back home in the Philippines where it can serve a second life (i.e. on travel shows, museums).
What makes the design of the Philippine Pavilion different from the rest?
Our Pavilion features an interactive facade featuring dynamic live performances by a human dance troupe.
Traditional dance and craft performances will occur at auspicious times of the day, making the site vibrant and enabling the guests to experience our content before or after entering the space itself. What if the pavilion itself were alive and able to communicate our vision to people—that’s the question we work on.
This is the first time this type of interactive, live facade is deployed at a World Expo, and we are extremely proud of the opportunities this innovation creates.
