{"id":25479,"date":"2025-05-15T17:58:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=25479"},"modified":"2025-05-15T19:01:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T09:01:43","slug":"japans-expo-is-a-playground-for-timber-engineers-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/japans-expo-is-a-playground-for-timber-engineers-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s Expo is a Playground for Timber Engineers \u2014 Here’s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Osaka, along with Tokyo and Kyoto, has emerged as Japan’s go-to destination for 2025, with 150,000 visitors flocking to the World Expo every day. Among them are a dozen Australian architects, engineers, and developers – on the WoodSolutions study tour <\/a>– who lined up ahead of a two-day tour of the expo grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Wood Central spoke to Andrew Dunn, from the Australian Timber Development Association, who said the Expo is perhaps the highlight of a week-long tour, which has so far, included a VIP tour of Tokyo 2021 Olympic Stadium, the H\u014dry\u016b-ji temple, a special carpentry demonstration and state-of-the-art post-and-beam house factory: “What we are seeing coming out of Japan is incredible,” Dunn said, “none more so than the Grand Ring – the world’s largest wooden structure ever constructed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"IMG
Entry to the timber skywalk connects thousands of visitors to the top of the Giant Ring. (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Walking along the ring’s 12-metre high skywalk – all built out of cross-laminated timber – Dunn said the structure combines modern methods of construction (MMC) with traditional Nuki joints – a system that connects pieces togerher without using nails or screws. Measuring 30 metres in width and 675 metres along the outer edge, the Grand Ring is 2km long and uses more than 60,000 square metres of wood in its construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n
A view inside the Giant Ring – where timber thousands of timber pieces are connected using a a traditional woodworking method known as Nuki joints – a nail and screw free construction technique. (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About 70% of the ring is made up of Japanese cedar and hinoki wood, which, combined with much stronger European red cedar and reinforced steel, makes the ring fully resistant to earthquakes: “Inside, massive wooden beams hold up the sloped roof, which doubles as the skywalk, protecting thousands of visitors from the weather as they wander through the ground level,” Dunn said. “From the highest point, you can take in the complete circular form of the structure, with pavilions from around the world gathered both inside and outside the ring.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of timber pavilions are placed around the ring…<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG
A view of the Italian pavilion – the Expo’s largest, built out of wood. According to Mario Vattani, the General Commissioner for the exhibit, \u201c(Our exhibit) is aimed at improving the quality of life and promoting sustainability,\u201d with the giant timber exhibit all about \u201cdesigning future society,\u201d a unique opportunity \u201cto promote Italian excellences in a multitude of sectors.\u201d (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Visiting several pavilions, Dunn said the Expo is a playground for timber engineers and architects. The biggest (made of wood) is the Italian pavilion, a modern interpretation of the Ideal City of the Renaissance. Built from cross-laminated timber and glulam, the pavilion is a “large hangar of knowledge” split into three sections: one for aerospace, another for society, and a third section for humanity \u2014all to be deconstructed and reused, piece by piece, post-expo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n
A view of the Austrian pavilion. Last year,<\/a> Wood Central spoke to Yuichi Shinohara, CEO and President of Shinohara Shoten, who erected the Austrian pavilion on site. Featuring an impressive musical score, Graf Holztechnik in Austria is crafting the 12-metre-high mass timber structure. Despite its delicate aesthetics, it is fully wind-resistant and boasts high performance. (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the Romanian, Polish, Bahrianian, Blue Ocean and Australian pavilions, which, along with the Chinese, Austrian, Uzbekistan and Irish pavilions, all had massive lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n
A view of the Uzbekistan pavilion. The two-story structure<\/a>, which utilises modular, reusable wooden elements, will be disassembled and reconstructed in Uzbekistan for various uses, including a studio, a workshop, and a school.” (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG
A view of the Chinese pavilion – one of the most popular at the expo. (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"IMG<\/figure>\n
A view of the Polish and Romanian pavilions. (Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Tomorrow, we will get a VIP tour of the Czech Republic pavilion courtesy of Stora Enso,” Dunn said. “The four-storey structure is Japan’s tallest steel-free timber building, and it’s been designed to meet the country’s stringent building standards.” Divided into thirty equal-sized sections, the pavilion’s architect, Michal Gaba\u0161, had to prove in a lab that the wood and fasteners could withstand earthquakes or the force of the wind during a major typhoon: “The structure is one major challenge,” Gaba\u0161 said. “Another major challenge is fire protection because the whole building is made of timber. And the third major challenge is Japanese laws and building regulations, which they require us to follow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note<\/strong>: Wood Central will have exclusive tour coverage all week. Click here for insights from the tour’s first<\/a>, second <\/a>and third days<\/a>. <\/a>And to learn why Japan is culture built on timber and not stone or bricks, click here for Wood Central’s special feature prior to the tour.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Osaka, along with Tokyo and Kyoto, has emerged as Japan’s go-to destination for 2025, with 150,000 visitors flocking to the World Expo every day. Among them are a dozen Australian architects, engineers, and developers – on the WoodSolutions study tour – who lined up ahead of a two-day tour of the expo grounds. Today, Wood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[3,38,52,37,35,33,41,32,46,42,39,68,43,45,44,31,40],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-25479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-architecture","8":"category-architecture-and-design","9":"category-asia","10":"category-building-and-construction","11":"category-case-studies","12":"category-editors-picks","13":"category-exterior-wood-products","14":"category-global-news","15":"category-industry","16":"category-interior-wood-products","17":"category-mass-timber","18":"category-sector","19":"category-structural-wood-products","20":"category-sustainability","21":"category-sustainable-forest-management","22":"category-top-stories","23":"category-wood-products"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25479"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25504,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25479\/revisions\/25504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25479"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=25479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}