At Expo 2025 Osaka, among the eight Signature Pavilions redefining the architectural dialogue of the future, null² emerges as a standout vision. Designed by Tokyo- and Taipei-based studio NOIZ in collaboration with media artist and researcher Yoichi Ochiai, the pavilion is more than just a building, it’s a living experiment in hybrid space-making, where the boundaries between physical and digital, static and dynamic, dissolve into a shimmering architectural interspace.

Conceived as a speculative model for future architecture, null² occupies a unique conceptual realm: it’s neither fully real nor entirely virtual, but something in between, a meta-environment that interacts with its users and surroundings. Its form is built from voxel-like modules, cubic units of 2, 4, or 8 meters, arranged to create a flowing sequence of exhibition, support, and rest spaces. These modules vary from rigid geometric blocks to more warped, organic shapes, each clad in a newly developed mirrored membrane that shifts with the wind and reflects the changing world around it.

Designer: NOIZ

This tensile membrane does more than just mirror its environment. Designed to be reactive, it shimmers and moves in response to environmental forces, creating a visual rhythm that gives the structure a sense of breath. In doing so, it transforms the building’s presence from a static object to a living system, one that visually and metaphorically blurs into its context.

From its very conception, null² has been designed with agility in mind. In response to the tight timeline and uncertain future beyond Expo 2025, NOIZ developed a modular framework that prioritizes speed, flexibility, and reuse. The structure can be rapidly deployed, easily dismantled, and potentially relocated. The innovative membrane not only enhances the structure’s aesthetics but also offers solar reflectance and thermal insulation, features that hint at sustainable applications beyond the Expo, such as retrofitting existing buildings.

Inside the pavilion, visitors are drawn into a multisensory exhibition experience built around the concept of digital twins. These avatars reflect and respond to the user’s presence, making the act of visiting itself a kind of co-creation. Within select modules, robotic arms and embedded woofers interact with the mirrored surfaces through movement and sound, producing an environment that feels both tactile and intelligent. The building, in this way, becomes a responsive interface, a medium for communication between the visitor and the space.

But null² is not confined to its physical form. It extends into the digital, offering a participatory platform where remote users can engage with the pavilion through robotic avatars or augment their on-site experience using AR overlays. Visitors are encouraged to digitally reinterpret the structure, creating personalized spatial edits and contributing to an evolving archive of user-generated designs. This participatory approach redefines architectural authorship, replacing the singular vision of the designer with a collective, crowd-sourced process.

The post Expo 2025’s Most Futuristic Pavilion Feels Alive and Responds to Your Presence first appeared on Yanko Design.

Designed by NU Architectuur Atelier, the Green Ark is located in the center of Belgium’s Meise Botanic Garden. The structure is an extremely sustainable visitor pavilion on the grounds of the Bouchout Castle in the Flemish Brabant. It is part of an impressive project that aims to extend 7600 sq m of greenhouses in the heart of the site. It is built from Kebony Clear wood, forming a lattice structure that is truly a wonder to look at. The rather dramatic and sophisticated-looking structure is located right in the middle of the 92-hectare conservatory.

Designer: NU Architectuur Atelier

The Meise Botanic Garden is supposed to be one of the largest conservatories in the world that looks after endangered plant species. The project is intended for restoration, and it includes 22 of the Garden’s greenhouses. The greenhouses are focused on different environments and some of the activities on the site include education and conservation. With the Green Ark, the architectural firm has designed a dramatic and impressive pavilion in one of the newly restored conservatories. It provides visitors with educational experiences, allowing them to learn more about the endangered plants.

The structure features a curved roof of Kebony wood shingles which look like scales! The shingles seem to gently cascade down the curved sides, creating quite an interesting visual. The interior of the pavilion features a wooden structure elevated on a concrete frame and paired up with a glazed ground floor. The glazed floor allows a glimpse into the surrounding glasshouses.

The Kebony wood was an integral part of the pavilion’s structure. The company is being acknowledged for its ‘modified wood’ process, which involves a faster growth rate of softwood and a special technique that merges wood with furan polymers to provide increased solidity and stability. Kebony’s softwood is a sustainable option when it comes to carbon capture and sourcing. The Green Ark is also designed to recycle rainwater through the shingled roof. The remaining portion of the roof serves as a flat structure that offers views into the surrounding greenhouses.

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Dubbed the Garden Pavilion, and designed by BYRÓ architekti, this cozy retreat looks like a simple little shed when you first look at it. However, located on a garden plot in Prague, the home is equipped with a clever space-saving layout. The retreat’s front-facing facade can be raised, opening up the cabin to the outdoors! How cool is that?!

Designer: BYRÓ architekti

The pavilion was constructed on the foundation of what was once an old wooden cottage. Greenhouses and other small cottages are located next to it, which function as storage spaces for gardeners. The retreat was designed to merge with its surroundings while allowing the residents to immerse themselves in nature and enjoy the greenery.

“We thought about how to connect the building as closely as possible to the surrounding garden, and we ultimately came up with the idea of a folding panel that allows one side of the house to completely open,” said BYRÓ architekti. “This way, the interior seamlessly transitions to the outdoors, with the garden penetrating the building, creating a kind of paraphrase of a garden loggia, which was our fundamental architectural inspiration. When open, the polycarbonate wall also functions as an outdoor roof, expanding the covered space where one can stay during rainy weather. The panel folding mechanism consists of steel cables, pulleys, and counterweights, making it easy for one person to open the entire facade.”

The retreat occupies a minimal footprint and measures 3 x 5 m. It has a finish of charred wood which was created using the traditional Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban. This technique involves burning wood to preserve the home and keep bugs at bay. The interior of the home is 20 sq m, and it features two floors which have been designed like a tiny home. The ground floor includes an open living area which has plenty of shelving for books and CDs. It also contains a dining table and seating.

The upper floor can be accessed via a fixed wooden ladder and this section doesn’t have to have a lot of headspace. This floor includes the bedroom – some shelving, a double bed, and a skylight. The retreat doesn’t contain a bathroom, which is quite inconvenient, but also implies that it may not be intended for long stays. The Garden Pavilion is better suited for spending time during the day, or for an occasional overnight trip.

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