The exhibition at the National Museum in Prague will showcase designs for the pavilion for Expo 2025

Prague - Starting this Thursday, the exhibition of competitive designs for the Czech pavilion at the World Expo 2025, which will take place in Japan, will be open to the public in the New Building of the National Museum in Prague. Visitors will be able to view the winning design by Apropos Architects, which resembles a large spiral made of glass, as well as more than 30 other projects, the organizers announced today.

The Expo is returning to Osaka, Japan after 55 years. At that time, the Czechoslovak pavilion designed by architect Viktor Rudiš was visited by approximately 11 million people, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The jury selected the winner, who designed the pavilion for the next Czech presentation, in March. In August, the Czech Republic submitted an application for a temporary building permit to the local building authority. The building authority has about six to eight weeks to approve the documents. The main structure of the winning design will consist of wooden panels, while the facade will feature artistic glass.

"As a society, we will age with full strength. To strengthen our inner vitality, we need to acknowledge the social and cultural values, continually remind ourselves of them and reinforce them. Hence the pavilion made of wood and glass, crafted and creatively conceived, filled with Czech skill and creativity. In the shape of a dynamic spiral as the most ideal path,” stated architect Nikoleta Slováková from Apropos Architects. The design was created in collaboration with Tereza Šváchová and Lunchmeat studio.

The second place was taken by the Prague studio A69 – Architects, which has its roots dating back to 1994. The three partners behind this brand are connected not only by their birth year but also by dozens of implementations and hundreds of projects of all sizes and typological types. The third place went to the design by the Liberec architectural studio Mjölk. A special jury prize was awarded to the design by Plus One Architects for its original mushroom-shaped pavilion concept.

The open architectural competition was last held prior to the Expo in Hannover, which took place in 2000. Besides Czech architectural studios, this year proposals were also submitted by candidates from Slovakia, Great Britain, Germany, and Cyprus.

The proposals were evaluated by a jury composed of experts from various fields. It included architect and designer Eva Jiřičná, partner at Kengo Kuma and Associates Balázs Bognár, Slovak automotive designer Jozef Kabaň, chairman of the Czech Chamber of Architects Jan Kasl, architect Markéta Smrčková, entrepreneur Martin Wichterle, and the general commissioner of the Czech participation at Expo 2025 Ondřej Soška. However, other people also participated in the evaluation, totaling 13 members.

The exhibition will take place between April and October 2025, with its main theme being "creating a future society for our lives".

The government confirmed its participation in the exhibition and the concept with which the Czech Republic will be presented at the end of June last year. The budget for Czech participation is set to be 290.2 million crowns for the years 2023 to 2026. An additional 170 to 220 million will come from external sources.