NORDIC PAVILION
EXPO 2025 OSAKA
NORDIC PAVILION
EXPO 2025 OSAKA
Over the centuries, our Nordic weather and natural environment have taught us to rely on one another. To live and thrive in these conditions, we need each other – we trust, we collaborate. The patterns we observe in nature reflect the spirit of the Nordics: schooling fish, flocking birds, herds of reindeer – all moving as one, yet each an individual. There is no single leader, only a shared sense of direction.
We found this idea echoed in the Japanese concept of Ensō – a circle that represents everything and nothing at once, endlessly in motion. This swirling form became the heart of our exhibition: Nordic Circle
PHOTO GALLERY
IAIA 2025 PRESENTATION
INTERVIEW WITH DAG OLAV KOPPERVIK
ICONIC AWARD - EXHIBITION DESIGN - WINNER
AWARDS
WORLD EXPOLYMPICS 2025 - GOLD
ICONAWARDS 2025 - GOLD
GERMAN DESIGN AWARD 2026 - NOMINATED
360 EXPERIENCE APP
FUN FACTS
THE BUILDING: DESIGNED BY MICHELE DE LUCCHI AND AMDL CIRCLE · BUILT BY RIMOND · A 1,200 SQ. M, 17-METER-TALL STRUCTURE
THE WHIRL: THE 85-METER-LONG, SWIRLING CENTERPIECE THE WHIRL CONSISTS OF 700 SHEETS OF JAPANESE PAPER — 100 OF WHICH ARE PHOTOGRAPHS CAPTURING EVERYDAY LIFE ACROSS THE NORDIC COUNTRIES.
THE PAPER SURFACE SPANS 275 SQ. M
RIGGING: CIRCLE SHAPED TRUSS SYSTEM · 980 WIRES WITH A COMBINED LENGTH OF 3,180 METERS · STEEL PROFILES EXTENDING OVER 1,092 METERS · ENTIRE STRUCTURE WEIGHS 1,723 KGS.
FILM: 6 LARGE VIDEO PROJECTORS PLACED IN THE RIG BRING THE MANY SHEETS OF PAPER TO LIFE WITH MOVING IMAGES · 2 ICELANDIC COMPOSERS HAVE CREATED A BEAUTIFUL COMPOSITION THAT PORTRAYS THE PASSAGE OF THE YEAR IN THE NORDIC REGION THROUGH ALL 4 SEASONS
THE LANDSCAPES: THE SURROUNDING ‘LANDSCAPES’ CONTAIN9 INTEGRATED SCREENS, EACH PRESENTING NARRATIVES THAT HIGHLIGHT OUR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS AND WAY OF LIFE
PROTOTYPING: BEFORE INSTALLATION IN THE PAVILION IN OSAKA, JAPAN, A FULL-SCALE PROTOTYPE WAS ASSEMBLED AND TESTED IN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND EXPO 2025 OSAKA AND THE EXHIBITION NORDIC CIRCLE OPENED ON 13 APRIL 2025
THE NORDIC DREAM TEAM
DESIGN: KVORNING, RINTALA EGGERTSSON ARCHITECTS, AND GAGARIN
PRODUCTION / INSTALLATION: EXPONEX, WINTENEX, AND HABEGGER
CLIENT: INNOVATION NORWAY
LOCATION / YEAR: OSAKA JAPAN / 2025
PHOTOS: DAICI ANO AND FRANTIŠEK BÍLEK
INTERVIEW WITH DAG OLAV KOPPERVIK