The Invisible Ocean Thread: Architecture and Ceramics at Spain's Pavilion, Expo Osaka 2025
Tile Wars · design · · Tile Wars
Under the motto "The Kuroshio Current," Spain's pavilion at Osaka 2025 turns Cumella ceramics into a marine gradient linking Spain and Japan through sea and sun.
Spain's participation in the Osaka, Kansai 2025 World Expo left a lasting mark thanks to a proposal that radically broke with the idea of the traditional monumental building. Under the motto "The Kuroshio Current," the Spanish pavilion was conceived not as a closed container, but as the construction of a landscape . A cultural and geographical bridge linking Spain and Japan through two of their most identifying symbols: the sea and the sun.
Jointly designed by the studios EXTUDIO, ENORME Studio and Smart & Green Design (a team formed by architects Néstor Montenegro, Rocío Pina, Carmelo Rodríguez and Fernando Muñoz), the project paid tribute to the historic voyage of the Basque navigator Andrés de Urdaneta in the 16th century. Urdaneta discovered the "tornaviaje" (return) route across the North Pacific by relying, precisely, on the powerful Kuroshio ocean current.
A Mediterranean plaza facing the sea of Japan
Located in the northern area of the imposing Great Ring (the giant wooden ring of the Expo) and spanning 3,500 square meters, the pavilion committed to openness and hospitality. Its main façade opened to the public through a generous plaza and a stepped grandstand that mimicked the sway of the waves, inviting visitors to sit, rest and connect with the surroundings, echoing the spirit of Mediterranean squares and beaches.
Entering this artificial topography, the visitor was received at the Plaza del Sol , the prelude to an immersive experience that descended along a continuous ramp —as if plunging into the sea— toward the depths of the ocean, where the challenges of the blue economy and sustainability were addressed.
The material soul: Cumella's ceramics
The true dialogue between technological vanguard and traditional Spanish craftsmanship was staged on the building's skin. The ceramic cladding of the façade and the key elements of the plaza became the architectural focal point of the Kansai grounds.
The pavilion entrusted its materiality to one of the most prestigious ceramic firms with the longest tradition in contemporary Spanish architecture: Cerámica Cumella (globally recognized for iconic collaborations such as the Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona and the Spanish Pavilion at Expo Aichi 2005).
Ceramics were used not as a mere decorative element, but as a tool to capture the essence of water and light:
Chromatic gradient: The ceramic pieces dressed the pavilion's landscape through a carefully studied color transition. Tones shifted from the light greens and blues of the surface to deep ultramarine hues, emulating the depth of the ocean and the density of the Kuroshio current itself. Reflection and vibration: Thanks to high-quality glazes and textured surfaces, the ceramic reacted dynamically to Osaka's sunlight and to the sunset. The gloss and roughness of the pieces recreated the flickers of the sun on ever-moving water, giving the building an organic, ever-changing quality throughout the day. Sustainable commitment: In perfect harmony with the Expo's motto ("Designing Future Society for Our Lives"), the ceramic pieces were produced under strict sustainability criteria, combined in the pavilion with other local, km-0 materials, such as Japanese red cedar wood for the structural porticoes and interior panels made from recycled fishing nets.
Spain's Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 successfully demonstrated how pottery tradition and Mediterranean heritage can reinterpret international ephemeral architecture, consolidating itself as one of the public's favorite spaces and earning major international recognition thanks to its poetic materiality.