Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has used materials including cardboard tubes and laminated bamboo to create the Blue Ocean Dome pavilion. It is set up at Expo 2025 Osaka and hosts exhibits including works by designer Kenya Hara. Ban has also used carbon-fibre reinforced plastic tubes to create the dome, which brings attention to the value of the world’s oceans.

It is just outside the Grand Ring. Ban explained to Dezeen, “In countries that have very strong building regulations, we cannot use natural bamboo as a building material, including in Japan. However, if we laminate the bamboo, we can control the quality, strength and durability. So in the pavilion, I’m using laminated bamboo as a structure in a very unusual way.”

Image Credit: Hiroyuki Hirai