February 2023

Polish Investment and Trade Agency, Association of Polish Architects

Nationwide

We have learned the results of the competition for the architectural concept of the Polish Pavilion for Expo 2025, organized by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) and the Association of Polish Architects (SARP).

The competition was a limited and implementation-based one, conducted under the Flemish formula. This means that it was not an anonymous competition, and participants submitted works only after preliminary calibration.

The competition was preceded by a phase of pre-qualification of candidates(Stage I), followed by a phase of workshops and selection of the best competition works(Stage II).

The evaluation was carried out by a jury consisting of:

• Marek Dunikowski - architect, chairman of the Competition Jury, SARP Competition Judge.
• Marcin Pawłowski - architect, Referee, Competition Judge of SARP,
• Tsutomu Nozaki - architect, SARP Competition Judge,
• Oskar Derych,
• Aleksandra Tomczyk,
• Marta Szczygieł,
• Magdaleny Skarżyńska.

On the basis of dozens of applications, the jury invited five studios, which sent their portfolios, preliminary sketches and ideological description for the future Polish pavilion at the EXPO. Each of them passing, to the next stage received 10 thousand PLN gross. They were:

• medusa group,
• Nizio Design International.
• Alicja Kubicka and Borja Martinez architects,
• ATI Architektura Technika Inwestycje,
• MFRMGR.

However, there has been a change in the awarding of prizes. Instead of the planned three grand prizes, on Friday, February 24, the website of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency reported that all five teams invited to submit work received equal honorable mentions and a prize of PLN 20,000 gross, and that the final design is yet to be worked out.

As the PAIH website reads:

"The result of the competition and the selection of the best architectural concepts marks the completion of the first stage of work on the shape of the Polish Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. In the next stage, the final design of the Pavilion will be developed in cooperation with experts in the field of construction and architecture. People familiar with the Japanese market and the construction conditions of the Expo site will also be invited to participate in the consultations. The Expo site in Osaka is an artificial island, which poses an additional challenge facing the authors of the final design."

PAIH also issued a statement announcing that: "The Organizer of the Competition, acting on the basis of the provisions of Chapter VII, point 1.4, third sentence of the Regulations, decided not to select the best work and not to award the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prize, referred to in Chapter VII, point 1.2 of the Competition Regulations, and to award five distinctions and five cash prizes in the amount of PLN 20000 each to each of the Competition Participants qualified for Stage II of the Competition".