The architecture firm Coldefy, founded by Thomas Coldefy and Isabel Van Haute, along with CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, has unveiled the design for the French Pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025 in Osaka. Titled Theatrum Naturae (“Theatre of Nature”), the project aims to inspire new connections between humans and other forms of life within cities, highlighting various French ecosystems and integrating them into the building and visitor's experience.

The experience is conceived to be divided into three acts – Ascent, Discovery of Nature, and Return to the Ground – following a spatial "narrative path" from bottom to top and back. A staircase winds to form an observation balcony, then crosses a curtain threshold to create a loop allowing for a complete exploration of the interior space, embracing the entire volume, before opening onto the green terrace on the pavilion's roof.

The project aligns with the theme of the 2025 Osaka Expo: “Empowering Life”. Designed with a circular architectural approach, it seamlessly blends prefabricated and natural elements, embodying values related to sustainability, reuse, and recycling.

Ratti, recently appointed Curator of the Biennale Architettura 2025, has stated: “As we attempt to address the changing role of expos today in the context of the climate crisis, we must seek new ways to imagine the relationship between the natural and artificial. By combining different forms of intelligence, whether organic or technological, we can redefine connections between people and nature”.