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Across the ten projects, a set of shared themes emerges: material reinvention, circular design, and a renewed focus on community. Bread waste becomes structure, bamboo becomes climate infrastructure, and woven rattan becomes a water-harvesting system. Some pavilions introduce new behaviors, gathering, dreaming, resting, learning, while others revive old rituals like bathing or communal reading. What ties them together is their willingness to ask what a temporary space can do, and how it can shift our relationship to place, resources, and each other. Here are ten pavilions reshaping how we think about space.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lina Ghotmeh\u2014Architecture<\/strong><\/a> designs the Bahrain Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka<\/a><\/strong>, crafting a timber-and-aluminum structure inspired by the nation\u2019s traditional dhow boats and its long maritime history. Positioned along the waterfront in the Expo\u2019s Empowering Lives zone, the pavilion bridges Bahraini boat-building heritage with Japanese wood<\/strong><\/a> craftsmanship, expressing cultural exchange through material and form. The structure reinterprets millennia-old construction techniques with a lightweight wooden frame, an aluminum<\/a><\/strong> outer layer, and passive cooling strategies that reduce mechanical energy use.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Designed for disassembly and reuse after the Expo, the pavilion embodies Bahrain\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> commitment to sustainability and craft-driven innovation. The structure received the Gold Award for Best Architecture and Landscape in the Self-Built category, recognizing Ghotmeh\u2019s precise, contextual approach and the pavilion\u2019s refined expression of Bahrain\u2019s cultural and environmental heritage.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Serpentine<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0LEGO Group\u2019s Play Pavilion by Sir Peter Cook<\/b><\/a>, installed in London\u2019s Kensington Gardens, is a bright, bowl-shaped structure wrapped in orange and animated with LEGO-built topographies. The exterior walls of the pavilion rise and dip like a shifting landscape, inviting visitors to touch the tactile brick formations before stepping inside.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sunlight filters through gaps between the roof and base, filling the interior with natural light while maintaining a breezy, open feel. A towering central pillar, assembled from LEGO bricks, anchors the space like a watchful robotic figure. Visitors are encouraged to play, build, and modify the pavilion in real time through an interactive brick wall and a trove of LEGO pieces. Multiple openings frame views of the garden, while a yellow slide offers a playful exit route.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Elmgreen & Dragset<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0unveil K-BAR, a six-seat cocktail pavilion tucked deep within Thailand<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Khao Yai Art Forest, inserting an urban typology into a remote natural setting. Appearing most days as a charcoal-gray sculptural object amid dense foliage, the pavilion occasionally comes to life: visitors arriving at the right moment are guided through the forest to find the bar glowing from within.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"TOP](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lina-ghotmeh-kingdom-bahrain-national-pavilion-expo-2025-osaka-designboom-13.jpg\")
image courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh\u2014Architecture<\/p>\n![\"TOP](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/serpentine-unveils-play-pavilion-sir-peter-cook-LEGO-london-kensignton-gardens-designboom-01.jpg\")
The Play Pavilion, designed by Peter Cook (Peter Cook Studio Crablab), in collaboration with Serpentine and the LEGO Group \u00a9 Peter Cook (Peter Cook Studio Crablab) | images courtesy of Serpentine; photos by\u00a0Andy Stagg<\/a>, unless stated otherwise<\/p>\n![\"TOP](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elmgreen-dragsets-six-seat-bar-pavilion-mirage-thai-art-forest-designboom-11.jpg\")
images by\u00a0Andrea Rossetti<\/a>, courtesy of Khao Yai Art<\/p>\n