Project Name: Poland Pavilion

Location: Osaka, Japan

Design Team: interplay architects

Total Floor Area: 1137 m²

Completion: 2025

Photography: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Feature: interplay architects has created a striking spiral-formed pavilion for Poland at Expo 2025 Osaka, where ancient geometries meet cutting-edge design philosophy. This 1,137-square-metre structure ingeniously employs the spiral—a universal form found everywhere from molecular proteins to galactic formations—as a powerful metaphor for Polish innovation and cultural exchange.

The project's most exceptional design lies in its dynamic spiral layout, created through overlapping curved walls of varying heights that orchestrate a progressive experience of discovery. This sophisticated spatial strategy eliminates traditional corridor concepts while maintaining constant visual connections between interior and exterior spaces, naturally guiding visitors through different zones before culminating in an intimate elliptical concert hall at the building's gravitational centre—a warm, introspective sanctuary.

The pavilion exclusively utilizes locally sourced Japanese pine wood, capitalizing on the exceptional expertise of Japanese carpenters through contemporary reinterpretation of traditional techniques. The timber facade creates a vibrant, ever-changing surface that shifts dramatically throughout the day as shadows dance across its modular composition. Construction employs remarkable modular logic based exclusively on two wooden module types, ensuring geometric flexibility while meeting extremely tight deadline requirements.

The concert hall draws inspiration from Baltic amber—Poland's symbolic material—enclosed by golden chain curtains evoking willow branches that reference landscapes inspiring Chopin. This poetic space unifies the atmosphere while concealing entrances and creating intimate ambience subtly enhanced by sophisticated lighting.

Under the compelling slogan "Heritage that drives the future," the project establishes dialogue between national identity and local context, between traditional craftsmanship and forms embracing the future, embodying innovation's inherently borderless nature.

Design Team - interplay architects represents an international architectural practice founded in 2023, led by founding partners Alicja Kubicka and Borja Martínez Gómez. The firm brings exceptional experience from prestigious studios including Kengo Kuma & Associates and Wilmotte & Associés, having contributed to high-profile projects setting architectural trends on a global scale.

Under the leadership of Principal Architects Alicja Kubicka and Borja Martínez Gómez, interplay architects develops projects through honest analysis of client needs. Kubicka, educated at Poznań University of Technology with exchange programs at Madrid's ETSA and La Coruña's ETSA, gained valuable experience working in renowned practices, contributing to significant projects including luxury hotel T5B in Paris and the recently inaugurated Strasbourg Exhibition Centre. Martínez, a graduate of San Sebastián's ETSASS with Madrid ETSAM exchange experience, developed professional expertise at prestigious Japanese firm Kengo Kuma, as well as French agencies Archi5 and Dream, playing key roles in international projects such as the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense and Dr Leila Mezian Museum in Casablanca.

interplay architects' design philosophy strives to explore new expressions and facets of local building materials through sensitive and creative approaches that resonate with the cultural essence of each place. This ability to connect cultures is reflected in the firm's skill in adapting each project to its context, creating designs that are both functional and deeply meaningful.