Osaka Chair 5008 Osaka
The Osaka Chair, developed by Adico in collaboration with Kengo Kuma & Associates for the Portuguese Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, reinterprets the iconic Adico Portuguese chair through a Japanese cultural lens.
The design began by exploring how the original chair’s familiar form could be transformed to reflect the pavilion’s core themes: the sea, light, and the subtle interplay between the two. Inspired by the pavilion’s concept of light beams piercing through water, the chair adopts a language of refined, linear geometry. Its rope-like lines echo the pavilion’s suspended elements while also referencing the cables of traditional Portuguese boats.
Guided by principles of Japanese architecture, the design process embraced subtraction—stripping the chair down to its essential lines to create an object defined by lightness, clarity, and shadow. As a result, the Osaka Chair casts a delicate, almost graphic shadow that shifts with the surrounding light, reinforcing its connection to both Japanese spatial sensibilities and the pavilion’s immersive environment. Finished in the same blue tone as the pavilion, the chair embodies the movement of waves and the shared maritime heritage between Portugal and Japan.
