On show in Japan at World Expo 2025
McGregor Coxall’s landscape design creates an immersive cultural experience as part of Australia’s “Chasing the Sun” pavilion at World Expo 2025.
McGregor Coxall is proud to announce the opening of our landscape design for the Australia Pavilion at World Expo 2025 Osaka. Working in collaboration with global architecture practice Buchan, the team has created a welcoming cultural forecourt that serves as the gateway to Australia’s presence at this prestigious international event.
The cultural forecourt functions as a vibrant gathering space that introduces visitors to Australian culture before they enter the main pavilion. This welcoming precinct features a purpose-built stage for music, theatre, dance and screen programming, showcasing Australia’s creative talent throughout the Expo’s six-month duration. Central to our design is an authentic yarning circle—a traditional Indigenous meeting place that honours Australia’s First Nations’ practices of storytelling and knowledge-sharing.
“The site design is a window into Australian culture, a curated set of experiences reflecting our environment and people – the project honours First Nations knowledge systems providing visitors with a taste of the vast Australian continent” said Adrian McGregor, Founder and Chief Design Officer of McGregor Coxall.
Our landscape concept extends into the pavilion’s interior exhibition, where we collaborated with Buchan and Indigenous advisors Karrda to develop a “bush walk” experience. This immersive journey captures the essence of walking on Country and follows the structure of songlines that have traversed Australia for millennia, guiding visitors through experiences of land, sky, and sea Country.
In alignment with the pavilion’s sustainability approach, our landscape design emphasises minimal environmental impact. The pavilion structure repurposes a steel framework previously used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, while the tensile fabric exterior creates changing shadow patterns connecting visitors with natural rhythms.
The Australia Pavilion, including our landscape contribution, supports key objectives for Australia’s participation: deepening the relationship with Japan, creating opportunities for Australian businesses, showcasing contemporary Australia, and highlighting Indigenous knowledge as valuable perspectives for building future societies.
Buchan – Lead Designer/ Architect
Nikken Sekkei Ltd – Local Architect/ Engineer
McGregor Coxall – Landscape Architect
Karrda Pty Ltd – Indigenous Cultural Advisor
About World Expo
World Expo 2025 Osaka, running from April 13 to October 13, 2025, transforms Yumeshima Island into a global showcase under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” This six-month international exhibition brings together approximately 150 countries and organizations in architecturally distinctive pavilions connected by the innovative ring-shaped main structure and iconic “Ring of Light.” The expo explores how humanity can address pressing global challenges through three interconnected subthemes: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives. With an anticipated 28 million visitors, the event not only highlights Japan’s technological prowess and cultural heritage but also serves as a platform for international collaboration, sustainable innovation, and cultural exchange, generating significant economic impact through tourism and business opportunities while leaving a lasting legacy for Osaka and Japan.
