Expo 2025 - Thailand Pavilion
An immersive pavilion celebrating Thailand’s cultural, agricultural, and healthcare heritage, designed to inspire and engage global audiences at Expo 2025 under the theme of Saving, Connecting, and Empowering Lives.
Individual Project
Timeline: F24, 4 weeks
Tools/Skills: Interaction Design, Exhibit Design, Digital Prototyping, 3D Modeling, Unity, Rhino 3D, Blender
Saving, Connecting, and Empowering Lives.
Expo 2025 is a global event dedicated to progress, collaboration, and cultural exchange, showcasing innovations that shape a more interconnected world. This project explores how we can transform complex narratives into engaging, participatory exhibits. By blending physical space, digital interactions, and storytelling, the goal is to create a multi-sensory experience that highlights a nation’s contributions while fostering education, emotional impact, and global connection.
A journey to connect with the elements.
Earth
Stability & Strength
Objective
Fire
Pavilion Layout:
Wind
Movement & Communication
The pavilion is set within a lush greenhouse, where four floating exhibits rest on a body of water, connected by bridges. This layout symbolizes the interconnection of health, agriculture, innovation, and culture. The floating design reflects Thailand’s deep connection to water while the greenhouse setting merges nature and technology. Visitors cross bridges between exhibits and experience the flow of Thai heritage.
Exhibit 1: Health
Energy & Transformation
Water
Cleansing & Nourishment
Rooted in the Pāli Buddhist tradition, the Thai elemental theory is a fundamental aspect of traditional Thai medicine and culture, shaping beliefs about health, nature, and spiritual well-being. It is grounded in the idea that both the body and the world are governed by the Four Great Elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, each representing different physical, mental, and environmental aspects of life. Maintaining balance among these elements is believed to be essential for well-being, stability, and harmony.
I chose the Health Exhibit as my focus for prototyping and interaction. Representing the Earth element, it symbolizes stability, strength, and the foundation of life. Users explore Thailand’s rich tradition of herbal medicine, where ancient healing practices merge with modern innovations. As a global leader in herbal medicine research, Thailand develops natural treatments that promote holistic well-being.
This exhibit embodies the themes of saving and connecting lives, offering accessible remedies that support both physical and spiritual wellness. Through interactive elements, visitors gain insight into Thai healthcare innovations, fostering cross-cultural learning and collaboration. The experience empowers individuals to care for themselves and their communities, reinforcing the connection between humans and nature through traditional remedies.
Interaction:
Users begin their journey by approaching an interactive station about one of the four elements, where they are introduced to the respective element’s role in Thai traditional medicine.
The user approaches the water station, which prompts users with a personalized quiz to determine a custom herbal remedy.
As they answer questions about well-being, preferences, and health concerns, corresponding herbs are mixed into their remedy according to their answers while descriptions explain each herb’s properties. Upon completing the quiz, the user is given a physical “recipe” RFID card that details their customized remedy, including the herbs used and their medicinal effects.
After completing their personal quiz, users move to a collaborative mixing sandbox station, where multiple participants can explore hands-on herbal combinations.
At this station, physical herb models representing different elements can be placed on a sensor-embedded table. Each herb contains RFID tags, triggering explanations on a digital surface. As users experiment with combinations, they receive real-time feedback on how their mixture balances elements, interacts medicinally, and aligns with traditional healing.
As users finalize their herb mix, an animated human body model on the table highlights the areas affected by their chosen remedy. If they place their personal recipe card on the table, their previously created herbal remedy will be visualized on the body.
Create your own herbal remedy.
Prototyping:
I developed a digital prototype for the Water element station to visualize the interactive experience. Using Blender, I modeled the herbs in jars. These models were then integrated into Unity, where I built the station’s prototype allowing users to mix herbs, view information about them, and create their personalized remedy.
Tech Diagram
