Tokyo Calling: Malta Pavilion Shortlisted for Global Architecture Prize After Dazzling Japan Expo

Malta Pavilion at Japan Expo Shortlisted for International Architecture Award: A Mediterranean Triumph in Tokyo

Valletta’s skyline may be centuries old in stone, but Maltese creativity just rocketed into the 21st century—8,700 kilometres away. The Malta pavilion at last month’s Japan Expo in Tokyo has been shortlisted for the prestigious Architizer A+ Award in the Pop-Ups & Temporary category, placing the island on a global shortlist alongside studios from New York, Copenhagen and Seoul. For a country whose architectural identity is often reduced to honey-coloured bastions, the nod is more than a trophy moment; it is proof that Malta’s design voice can speak fluently in origami.

Designed by Maltese duo Matthew Borg & Clarissa Pace of Studio Sapientia, with scenography support from Japanese-Maltese collective Kiku Malta, the 120-square-metre pavilion wrapped itself around visitors like a paper lantern unfolded by the sea breeze. Recycled fishing-net mesh—sourced from Marsaxlokk and dyed in the pastel palette of a Gozitan sunset—formed a floating canopy that shimmered above cedarwood benches carved in the silhouette of traditional dgħajsa prows. Augmented-reality goggles allowed Japanese fans to trigger holographic fireworks over the Grand Harbour while sipping Kinnie slushies chilled by dry ice. The result: 42,000 visitors in four days, and a TikTok hashtag (#MaltaMeetsJapan) that hit 3.8 million views before the expo closed.

For the local creative scene, the nomination lands at a pivotal time. Malta’s Design & Architecture Week, which kicks off next month in Valletta, has struggled in recent years to attract foreign attention beyond heritage conservation circles. “Suddenly, our students aren’t just looking to Rome or London for inspiration,” says Prof. Antoine Briffa, Head of the University of Malta’s Department of Architecture & Urban Design. “They’re seeing that a studio born in a Sliema garage can compete on the same stage as Zaha Hadid Architects. That psychological shift is enormous.”

The economic ripple is already visible. Since the shortlist was announced on Monday, Studio Sapientia has fielded three collaboration offers from Japanese event agencies wanting “Mediterranean warmth” at forthcoming tech launches. More importantly, Malta Enterprise has fast-tracked a €50,000 seed grant for the team to prototype modular versions of the pavilion for European music festivals this summer. “We’re literally exporting sunlight,” Borg laughs over a Zoom call from Tokyo, gesturing to a mood board splashed with Pantone ‘Limoncello’.

Culturally, the project read like a love letter between two island nations. Visitors entered beneath a mirrored arch that reflected both Mt. Fuji and a stylised Mnajdra temple façade, symbolising shared maritime vulnerability and spiritual ingenuity. Inside, an ambient soundtrack blended Ta’ Qali night crickets with Noh-theatre flutes, mixed by sound artist Yasmin Żammit in her bedroom studio in Gżira. The Malta Tourism Authority reported a 17 % spike in Japanese travel enquiries within 48 hours of the pavilion’s opening—an uptick that rivals the bump seen after the 2019 Game of Thrones finale.

Back home, the community impact feels personal. Pace recalls how her 73-year-old grandmother crocheted lace samples in Balzan that were scanned and laser-etched into the pavilion’s façade panels. “She thought she was just helping her granddaughter,” Pace says, voice cracking. “Now her pattern is floating on LED clouds in Shibuya.” Local NGOs are taking note: the Gaia Foundation is exploring how the same recycled-net technique could be scaled into beach-clean-up sculptures along Malta’s coastline.

The Architizer A+ winners will be unveiled on 11 July at a ceremony in Manhattan. Win or lose, the pavilion’s blue-and-gold shipping container has already left Yokohama port, bound for Malta. Plans are underway to reassemble it as a pop-up gallery at Valletta’s Pinto Wharf for Notte Bianca, giving locals a chance to walk through the structure that made Tokyo whisper “Grazzi ħafna”.

In a week when Maltese headlines swing between traffic wardens and court cases, the nomination offers a luminous counter-narrative: a small island daring the world to look up from its phone and see what happens when limestone imagination meets carbon-fibre reality. The Mediterranean, it turns out, folds beautifully.