Antarte in a new global project: Expo 2025 Osaka

 The Portuguese brand materialized furniture pieces designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma for the Portugal Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, which takes place from April 13 to October 13, 2025.

Antarte has the privilege of being part of a project with Kengo Kuma, the renowned Japanese architect who designed the Portugal Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka... but not only that. The entire interior, as well as the furniture, also bears the design signature of Kengo Kuma: from the sofas to the VIP lounge, through the restaurant and the multipurpose room.

 

The Portuguese brand materialized more than 40 furniture pieces such as benches, high stools and tables for the restaurant and cafeteria, as well as the sofas and the table where the Book of Honour will be placed in the VIP lounge, selecting materials and production techniques that respect the ancestral knowledge of Portuguese woodworking.

The table to hold the Book of Honour of the Portugal Pavilion is an extraordinary sculpture. It is composed of 177 pieces of national ash wood, with different diameters and lengths, all manually turned over more than 200 hours of craftsmanship. The table weighs approximately 100 kilos. For the tabletops of the restaurant and cafeteria tables, Antarte selected national ash wood veneer. National ash wood was also used in the structure of the sofas. For the covering of these pieces, the selected fabric is waterproofed cotton. The benches for the restaurant and cafeteria area are made of national cork composite, manually turned. The prototypes of the pieces are already displayed at the Antarte Center, near the entrance of the Antarte Museum.

 

This is another one of the global-scale projects Antarte has accustomed us to, such as Pope Benedict XVI’s armchair, Pope Francis’ chair, or the Siza Vieira by Antarte art installation for the Vatican Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale.

The project is officially presented today, January 16, at the Lisbon Oceanarium with the presence of the Prime Minister of Portugal, Luís Montenegro. Conversations with Kengo Kuma’s architecture office began in September 2024, and the agreement was closed in October of the same year. The architecture of the Portugal Pavilion building was inspired by the theme “The Ocean | Blue Dialogue” and sustainability. Coordination was carried out by Portuguese architect Rita Topa. AICEP played a very important role in mediation.

 

 

For Mário Rocha, founder and CEO of Antarte, “it is a privilege to participate in a project like the Portugal Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, a true global showcase of Portugal’s state-of-the-art know-how. After working with Pritzker laureates Siza Vieira and Souto Moura, the opportunity to collaborate with Kengo Kuma, one of the greatest figures in world architecture and also a reference in the use of sustainable materials and respect for local knowledge and culture in each project he signs, reaffirms Antarte as the brand with the credentials to represent the ancestral knowledge and prestige of Portuguese woodworking.”