Highest distinction at ADC: facts and fiction wins Grand Prix for German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka
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Highest distinction for ‘Wa! Germany!’, the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka: In the ADC 2026 competition, the project developed by facts and fiction won the Grand Prix in the ‘Spatial Experience’ category. It is among the top ten submissions received this year and achieved second place in the competition’s overall rankings. The agency also received a total of ten ADC Nails for its work on the German and Austrian Pavilions.
The Grand Prix is the highest distinction in the ADC (Art Directors Club) competition and recognises projects that have set new standards during the competition year. The ‘Spatial Experience’ category honours outstanding work in the fields of interior architecture, events, trade fairs and architectural installations that create a unique spatial and emotional brand experience. Winning a Grand Prix award for a project in this field really highlights the importance of spatial experience within the creative sector. For facts and fiction, these awards are an important recognition of the creative work behind the country pavilions in Osaka and further proof of the impact that spatial storytelling, interactive communication and purposeful design can have in an international context.
Andreas Horbelt, Creative Director at facts and fiction.
Awards for Germany and Austria
In addition to the Grand Prix and a ranking among the top ten of this year’s entries for the German Pavilion, facts and fiction was also awarded ten ADC Nails for its work on the German and Austrian Pavilions.
The German Pavilion ‘Wa! Germany!’ received awards in seven categories. It was dedicated to the circular economy and brought the theme of circularity to life on an architectural, scenographic, multimedia and interactive level. The Circulars, which accompanied visitors through the exhibition as interactive guides and made the complex content accessible, also received special recognition.
The theme behind the German Pavilion: designing a circular world together. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
The German Pavilion won awards in the following categories:
Grand Prix / Gold
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Architecture, Public & Urban Design > Architectural Installations
Silver
Digital Media > Specials > Technological Experiment > Creative Technology Prototypes: Interactive Audio Guide – The Circulars
Silver
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Event > Event
Silver
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Exhibition > Museum & Pavilion Design
Silver
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Exhibition > Themed Exhibition
Siver
Spatial Experience > Specials > For Good
Bronze
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Exhibition > Online & Hybrid Brand Exhibition
Patrick Specht, Commissioner General of the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka.
The Austrian Pavilion was also honoured with three ADC Nails. Under the title ‘Composing the Future’, the pavilion combined music, space and questions about the future to create a poetic and captivating visitor experience. facts and fiction was responsible for the exhibition design and developed a concept that translated Austria’s cultural identity into a contemporary spatial narrative.
The design symbol of the Austrian Pavilion was an oversized line of musical notes. As an intertwined sculpture, it defined the pavilion even from the outside. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
The Austrian Pavilion won awards in the following categories:
Bronze
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Architecture, Public & Urban Design > Architectural Installations
Bronze
Spatial Experience > Concept for Spatial Experience > Event > Event
Bronze
Spatial Experience > Craft for Spatial Experience > Direction & Creative Direction
Kirsten Koehler, Creative Director at facts and fiction.
Visitors to the exhibition embarked on an emotional and multisensory journey that showed them visions of what living in a circular society could be like. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
Creativity as a connecting principle
With the awards for the German and Austrian Pavilions, the ADC is honouring two very different concepts that have one thing in common: they both show how creativity can make complex topics accessible, evoke emotions and facilitate international understanding within the space.
With ‘Wa! Germany!’, the German Pavilion conveyed a positive, forward-looking image of Germany and highlighted the circular economy as a social responsibility. The Austrian Pavilion translated musical compositions into a spatial experience and asked the question of how we can come together to shape the future. Both projects demonstrate how architecture, content, scenography and multimedia presentations can be combined to create engaging public experiences at a World Expo.
With the Grand Prix and other ADC awards, facts and fiction is continuing its Expo success. At Expo 2025 in Osaka, the agency was involved in the design of the pavilions of Germany, Austria and the European Union. It has already received numerous awards for its work, including at the BIE Award, the BrandEx Award, the German Design Award, the EXHIBITOR Magazine’s World Expo Award and at many other international competitions.
The ADC competition
Every year, the ADC competition honours outstanding achievements from the fields of communication, design, digital, spatial concepts, innovation and creative excellence. Judged by a high-profile specialist jury, the ADC Nails are among the most prestigious awards in the German creative industry.
Information about the pavilions
Germany
On behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Koelnmesse GmbH organised and ran the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka. The concept, planning and implementation of the German Pavilion was the responsibility of the German Pavilion Expo 2025 Osaka Working Group, consisting of the two companies facts and fiction (Cologne) and GL events Live (Lyon) with assistance from the Japanese branch office. Here, facts and fiction was responsible for the concept, exhibition design and media design, while GL events Live and the Japan office took care of the structural work. The architecture and spatial concept were designed by LAVA Architects (Berlin).
On their way around the pavilion, visitors were accompanied by the Circulars, the pavilion’s mascots. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
The circular exhibition tour was designed as a series of immersive spatial experiences that also followed the circular theme. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
Austria
On behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour and Economics, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the Expo Offices of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, BWM Designers & Architects were responsible for the architectural design of the Austrian Pavilion. facts and fiction came up with the concept for the pavilion and designed the exhibition, assisted by Zone Media (Vienna). The music was composed in collaboration with the Mozarteum Salzburg and Kling Klang Klong (Berlin). The Nüssli Group was the general contractor for the construction of the pavilion and the exhibition.
‘Composing the Future’, the Austrian contribution to Expo 2025 in Osaka, used the unifying theme of music to create a fascinating composition of the future together with its visitors. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
Inside the pavilion, the exhibition was divided into three rooms. (Copyright: Stefan Schilling)
About facts and fiction
facts and fiction is an interdisciplinary creative agency with more than 70 full-time employees at its offices in Cologne and Berlin. Founded in Cologne in 1992, the agency designs and implements innovative analogue and digital projects for the realms of art, culture, business and science. The focus here is on museums and exhibitions, Expo pavilions, events, exhibits and digital solutions for participatory and individualised experiences.
facts and fiction developed the German, Austrian and EU pavilions for Expo 2025, which took place in Osaka, Japan, between April and October of last year. The agency has 25 years of Expo experience and, including Japan, has now helped plan and design 13 pavilions for various countries. Previous large-scale projects in the field of public museums and exhibitions include the German Mining Museum in Bochum and the Berlin Exhibition in the German capital’s Humboldt Forum. The agency is currently working on projects including the design of the Zeppelin Field and the Zeppelin Tribune in Nuremberg as a place of learning and reflection, as well as on permanent exhibitions for the Natural History Museum in Basel and the Buddenbrookhaus in Lübeck. In Berlin, facts and fiction works in political communication: for ministries, institutions and associations, the agency develops a wide variety of analogue, hybrid and digital event formats and exhibitions in a political context. In 2025, it was once again awarded the budget of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE).
facts and fiction has carried out more than 700 projects in 50 countries and already won numerous awards for its work, including the BIE Award, the iF Communication Award, the ADC competition, the Galaxy Award and the Red Dot Award. In 2026, the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka was awarded the Grand Prix in the ‘Spatial Experience’ category and another seven ADC Nails in the ADC competition. The Austrian Pavilion at Expo 2025 also received three ADC Nails.
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