Earlier this week, Expo 2025 launched in Osaka, Japan. This year, the world expo is showcasing installations and exhibits from all over the world exploring the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”. Notably, lucky visitors will not only see great design and architecture at the various pavilions, the rest areas are also something special to experience as each of them was designed by a young Japanese architect.
One rest area in particular has piqued our interest for its use of construction 3D printing. Designed by Aki Hamada Architects (AHA), a Tokyo-based architecture and design firm, the unique rest area features a number of large-scale 3D printed elements inspired by the organic forms of canyons. These structures, which include wall panels, planters and hand-wash basins, were made from a soil-based building material and were constructed using a construction 3D printer from Italian company WASP.
(Photo: Asuka Shikiba)
The 3D printing material in question draws inspiration from traditional Japanese earthen wall materials and integrates a number of ingredients, such as soil, clay, hardening agents (magnesium oxide), straw, pigments and seaweed glue—all sourced from within Japan. The aim in developing this material was to create robust structures that could also biodegrade naturally when the expo wraps up.
“Though heavy, fragile and far removed from modern industrial materials, soil has the advantage of being able to return to the ground,” explains the rest area makers. “By using it as a new construction material, we aimed to propose a vision for future architecture and society—one where people build their own nests using soil from their local land.”
Manufacturing on Demand
(Photo: Asuka Shikiba)
The design of the rest area’s 3D printed structures also evokes nature and ecology: the architecture firm actually 3D scanned stones from across Japan and combined the models into composite geometries. These geometries were optimized to ensure that the 3D printed elements were strong and sturdy enough to stand independently.
Interestingly, the various 3D printed elements were made in different ways. For example, the rest area’s outer wall panels were constructed off-site at a factory in Toyama. In total, 56 panels were 3D printed, each with dimensions of 930 mm in width, 300-400 mm in depth and 1,200 mm in height. These panels were transported to the building site at Expo 2025 Osaka and assembled onto a timber frame. AHA notes that it pre-embedded wood inserts into the wall panels to secure them to the wood frame without damaging the clay. Assembled, the 3D printed panels create a broad rock-like façade.
(Photo: Yosuke Ohtake)
(Photo: Junpei Suzuki)
A number of planters were 3D printed on-site in Osaka, including bench planters and table planters. A WASP 3D printer with a build volume of 6.2 x 1.7 meters was used to create four sets of bench planters each with a unique form, like C-shapes or clustered planters, resulting in a dynamic environment for visitors. Smaller earthen blocks, 3D printed at the Toyama factory, were also transported in to create stacked planters reinforced with bamboo rods.
Finally, AHA designed innovative hand-washing stations for the rest area using 3D printing. The cylindrical structures, also inspired by natural rock textures, were made off-site and integrate a number of functional features, like a recessed front for user’s knees and an opening in the rear for maintenance. These pieces were designed for simple installation, as they can be slid into position around existing sings and counters.
(Photo: Junpei Suzuki)
This project began with a question: If we were to rediscover a new form of rationality for constructing architecture today, what kind of shapes would emerge?” AHA writes. “
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Author: Tess Boissonneault
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