The Philippine Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka has received the Silver Award for Exhibition Design, recognizing its outstanding creativity, craftsmanship and visitor experience.
The award, presented by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)—the organization that oversees and regulates World Expos—honors self-built pavilions with plots under 1,500 square meters that demonstrate exceptional exhibit design and storytelling.
The award ceremony was held on the same day the Philippines officially closed its pavilion, celebrating six months of cultural exchange and collaboration. The Pavilion, which opened its doors in April, has welcomed over 1.1 million visitors, serving as a dynamic platform to showcase the country’s creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to sustainability and community.
Throughout the Expo 2025, the Philippine Pavilion served as a hub for cultural diplomacy, trade networking and tourism promotion, catalyzing cross-sector partnerships and strengthening bilateral ties with Japan, one of the Philippines’ top tourism and trade partners.
The Philippine Organizing Committee—led by the Department of Tourism and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines—commissioned a visionary design team, with Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc. as lead architectural firm and designer; Chochay Garcia as creative producer; architect Yuki Kanou as executive architect and lead project manager; and Tellart as guest experience designer.
Tourism Promotions Board Philippines chief operating officer and secretary-general of the Philippine Organizing Committee Margarita Montemayor Nograles led the closing program and received the Silver Award.
“From the very beginning, when this was just an idea drawn on paper, we knew that the Philippine Pavilion was going to be more than just a physical structure. It was going to be our nation’s heartbeat at Expo 2025,” Nograles said.
“And now, as the curtains close, I stand before you knowing—with all certainty—that we did not just build a Pavilion. We built pride. We built hope. We built a home for the Filipino spirit—here in Japan, and in the eyes of the world,” she said.
The ceremony was also attended by Ambassador Mylene Garcia-Albano of the Philippine Embassy in Japan and Tourism Undersecretary Myra Abbubakar, who read the keynote speech of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
Designed as the first-ever live performance façade for the Philippines in World Expo history, the pavilion featured over 200 handwoven panels created by Filipino weaving communities across all 18 regions of the country.
Inside, the multisensory experience included 18 large-scale handwoven art pieces, an AI-powered “Dancing with Nature” experience, AI photobooths, a Habi Shop and a Hilot wellness corner.
As part of the pavilion’s second life, its key elements will be repatriated to the National Museum of the Philippines and select regional sites.
Plans are also underway for the use of some of the elements in the upcoming ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) and Travex, which will be held in Cebu in January 2026.
