The Qatar Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, celebrates the rich maritime history of Qatar and the intricate joinery of Japanese tradition. The pavilion’s shape resembles a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel crucial to Arabian Gulf trade. Its curving white canopy, supported by meticulously joined timber frames, reflects both a sail catching the breeze and the craftsmanship of Japanese and Qatari woodworkers.
Inside, visitors experience a transition from maritime to inland themes. The exhibition, “From the Coastline, We Progress,” curated by OMA/AMO under Samir Bantal’s direction, explores Qatar’s past, present, and future through its relationship with the sea. Poetry by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani and Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Muhannadi is displayed against coastal imagery, evoking the Gulf’s gradual color change from deep indigo to aquamarine.
The interior leads from oceanic blues to desert tones, featuring sand samples representing Qatar’s distinct regions and wall graphics of Al Jassasiya’s petroglyphs.
Qatar’s maritime legacy
A deep blue curtain created with Inside Outside wraps around the main exhibition hall, simulating the sea’s layered densities.
Twelve niches within a wedge-shaped aluminum structure highlight specific coastal sites, combining panoramic images, tactile maps, and colored beads to illustrate each site’s various roles. At the heart of the pavilion, a cinematic installation modeled after a traditional Qatari winter majlis features a three-channel film by AMO and Samir Bantal. The film intertwines archival material with new footage, portraying Qatar’s complex modern identity through its land, sea, and people.
The exhibition concludes with traditional objects from pearl diving and domestic life, emphasizing the material culture that once sustained Qatar’s coastal communities. The Qatar Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka is a testament to shared heritage and innovative design, celebrating the rich maritime history of Qatar and the intricate joinery of Japanese tradition. It represents a blend of Qatari maritime history and Japanese craftsmanship, embodying dualities of land and sea, tradition and innovation.
