Expo’70 Fuji Group Pavilion

The Fuji Group Pavilion for Expo’70 was the largest air-inflated structure in the world. It is circular in plan, 50m in diameter, and in shape possesses a very clear and interesting geometry. The whole structure consists of 16 arches of the same length. The two arches at the center have a semicircular profile, but the distance between the two footings of an arch gets closer as the location of the arch shifts from the center towards the ends. Since the total length of the arch is constant, the top of the arch becomes higher from the center toward the ends of the pavilion. This principle affords a shape to the building that is unique and perfectly defined by geometry. The air pressure inside the tubes was kept about 1000 millimeter waterhead.