Expo 2025 Osaka, Japan

Designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, the Italian Pavilion is a contemporary tribute to the Renaissance Ideal City - reimagined as a forward-looking model of inclusivity, craftsmanship, and social innovation. It’s a permeable, open structure made primarily of wood and rooted in principles of sustainability, reuse, and sensory engagement. Built in partnership with Japanese companies, it emphasizes natural materials, short supply chains, and full recyclability.

Conceptually, the Pavilion brings together archetypal Italian urban elements - the theatre, the piazza, and the garden - reinterpreted with a modern sensibility. Visitors enter through a grand wooden theatre, a multisensory space where sound, light, and movement converge in artistic dialogue. This space opens into a central piazza, symbolizing encounter and exchange - the beating heart of timeless Italian urban culture. Above, a modern reinterpretation of the Italian garden crowns the Pavilion’s rooftop. Structured like a living labyrinth, it features geometric layouts, sculptures, fountains, and native Italian vegetation, offering a harmonious balance between human design and natural beauty.

Enel is the official lighting solutions provider for this extraordinary space, a global leader in the energy sector, promoting cutting-edge technologies focused on sustainability and innovation. Their contribution extends far beyond illumination, reflecting a seamless integration of architecture, environment, and cutting-edge technology.

At the Pavilion entrance, the Theatre features a dynamic lighting scheme achieved with high-performance LED fixtures capable of delivering customizable scenes in both white and coloured light. Digitally controlled via Casambi, the system adapts seamlessly to the Pavilion’s events and narrative moments, turning architecture into a performance in itself.

To light up the façade of the arena-shaped theatre, 19 units of Capital 100 RGB+W 4000K fixtures with custom ultra-wide optics create vibrant, programmable effects - from the Italian flag to rainbow hues and multicoloured transitions. Complementing the scenography, 20 Capital 100 B fixtures in 3000K white light, installed in the portico, highlight the theatre’s red wall through variations in light intensity. This play of monochromatic lighting, with its pulsating effect, brings the center of the pavilion to life, enhancing the architectural volumes and creating refined contrasts between light and shadow.

On the rooftop, the Italian Garden comes to life through a carefully choreographed lighting design. 50 spotlights and 800 metres of linear LED strips illuminate the vegetation, walking paths, and art installations, creating an immersive atmosphere visible even from Expo’s iconic circular Ring. 300 metres of custom Top Bend LED strips enhance the curves of the garden, while 500 meters of Side Bend LED strips, both in 3000K white light, illuminate  the Quercus phillyreoides hedge, accentuating the sinuous beauty of the labyrinth. The small trees on the rooftop are highlighted by a series of 3000K Moon Wall fixtures, all DALI-controlled to ensure maximum flexibility and the ability to create various lighting scenarios, adapting the illumination to the Pavilion’s needs.  

The overall illumination reflects the concept of the Italian Pavilion, transforming it into a true attraction that shines in vibrant colour hues and soft white shades, perfectly aligned with the spirit of innovation and sustainability that animates Osaka 2025.  

The Expo will run until mid-October, offering countless opportunities to witness this impressive installation evolve and to share new moments, insights, and images as the Pavilion’s story continues to unfold.

Products installed:
19x Capital 100 RGB+W 4000k custom optics DMX-RDM Black RAL 9005
20x Capital 100 B 3000K custom optics DALI Black RAL 9005
19x Snoot for Capital 100 Black RAL 9005
31x Moon Wall White Light 3000K wide optics custom RAL
19x Moon Wall White Light 3000K narrow optics custom RAL
50x Visor for Moon custom RAL
50x Snoot for Moon custom RAL
300m Custom LED Strip 3000K Top Bend
500m Custom LED strip 3000K Side Bend  

Credits:
Product supply: Lightcosmo Co. Ltd
Pictures: Raffaele Vincelli. Griven Srl