Expo 2025 preview: Switzerland

With Expo 2025 putting sustainability front and centre, the environmental impact of everything being built at the event site – from head architect Sou Fujimoto’s giant wooden ring that circles the exhibition area to all the individual pavilion structures – has been closely scrutinised. The Swiss Pavilion is no exception: Comprising four ultra-lightweight, interconnected spheres, the futuristic building is as eco-friendly as any pavilion at the Expo.

Emphasising sustainability and recyclable materials was a key concern for the Swiss delegation from the get-go, says Manuel Salchli, commissioner of Switzerland’s participation at Expo 2025 and a veteran of eight Expos. ‘It’s kind of weird to have a six-month event that’s all about sustainability taking place in buildings that will only be used for six months,’ he concedes. ‘So having our pavilion be as low-footprint as possible was a deciding factor all along. We wanted a building that could be built, dismantled, and built again (somewhere else).’

That goal was realised by a team led by Manuel Herz Architects, whose design combines visual appeal and wow factor with the ability to give the pavilion another life – in one form or another – once the Expo is over. ‘The ideal solution would be for the entire pavilion to be rebuilt elsewhere in Japan after the Expo,’ says Salchli, ‘and we have already spoken to interested parties about that possibility. Another option is to have the membrane [from the spheres] be recycled into furniture, for example.’

In addition to presenting a fully reusable pavilion, the Swiss are setting an example with other Earth-friendly solutions too. ‘We are planting bushes and trees around the pavilion to compensate for some of the CO2 impact that our presence in Osaka will have,’ Salchli explains. ‘To reduce our [environmental footprint] further, some of the furniture used in the pavilion was designed in Switzerland but produced in Japan, while other pieces, provided by [the Swiss furniture company] Vitra, are already recycled, having been made from repurposed materials.’

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Before the Swiss pavilion retires from active duty, it’s got a six-month exhibition to host. What is the building offering during the Expo? Salchli promises an experience that piques visitors’ curiosity and encourages reflection while not feeling overwhelming. ‘We’re aware that the typical visitor probably spends about 15 minutes at one pavilion before rushing to the next one,’ he says. ‘So we’ve tried to curate an exhibition that can be easily understood while feeling immersive and emotional.’

The organisers seek to accomplish that by leading attendees through four exhibition spaces – the four spheres – that each offer a different perspective. ‘The first one introduces Switzerland as a destination, as well as values such as direct democracy and our education system, which are what make us an innovative country,’ explains Salchli.

The second space is the emotional heart of the exhibition, but perhaps not in the way you might expect. ‘We’ll have gigantic soap bubbles rising out of a pond,’ says Salchli, ‘which represent the wishes of attendees. Visitors can create their own bubble by whispering their wish into a small microphone. We’ll display daily lists of what the top 10 wishes were, so people can compare visions with fellow attendees.’

Things get more advanced in the third section, the contents of which will be changed up twice during the Expo period. ‘For the first two months, the theme here will be “Augmented Human”,’ Salchli says, ‘with projects demonstrating how robotics and AI can help us create the society of the future. The second theme will be “Planet” and the third “Life”, when we’ll focus on the aging society and healthcare.’ Attendees will be able to peek into a version of their own future, too. ‘We’ll have an interactive installation at the intersection of art, science and diplomacy, inviting visitors to craft fictional futures based on data from the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar, which anticipates scientific trends over the next 5, 10, and 25 years,’ explains Salchli. The images generated by this high-tech prognosticator will all be projected onto the ceiling of the space to create a patchwork of possible futures.

The pavilion experience ends on a lighter note – with an exhibition dedicated to Johanna Spyri’s beloved children’s novel Heidi, which was made into a wildly popular anime series in 1974 by genre luminaries including Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. ‘Visitors will get to learn about how the values and qualities Heidi stands for remain relevant today, more than 100 years after the book was published,’ says Salchli. And the commissioner promises there’ll be something tangible to take home, too. ‘We’ll have a shop selling sustainable souvenirs such as wooden toys, and a Heidi café serving Swiss specialties with a Japanese twist,’ he says.

Having taken part in Expos around the world over the course of more than three decades, Salchli is the ideal person to ask the question many in Japan are still pondering: what makes attending this mega-event worth it? ‘Just experiencing the international atmosphere is a huge draw,’ he says. ‘The Expo really is a unique chance for people from all over the world to come together. Having talent from throughout the globe interact can help us make decisions that keep our world intact, and allows us to reconnect on levels from the political and economic to the personal.’

That argument resonates especially because Japan’s previous big chance to shine on the global stage was stymied by the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘The Tokyo Olympics should have been a similar celebration,’ Salchli notes, ‘but things of course didn’t go as planned. The Expo is another opportunity, and Osaka has such great potential to accommodate the world with open spirits and a good atmosphere.’

And with Japan surging to the top of ‘most desirable travel destinations’ lists the world over, the timing couldn’t be better. ‘This is something I’ve never experienced with any other Expo,’ says Salchli, ‘but it feels like every other day we receive emails from Swiss people who would like to visit Japan and the Expo. In Switzerland, everybody wants to go to Japan now, to experience the food, culture and traditions. So I think the [Expo’s] prospects are very good.’