Octagon Expo Pavilion by Aleksandar Rudnik Milanovic is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Competition Category.
BronzeArchitecture· 2025
Octagon Expo Pavilion
by Aleksandar Rudnik Milanovic
Client: Studio RUDA
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Architecture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #172486The Design
About Octagon Expo Pavilion
The octagon, a geometric figure selected by Nikola Tesla for his tower served as the motivation for creating a distinctive pavilion complex. By rebuilding the tower using energy efficient technologies, with a lookout as the focal point of this architectural ensemble featuring eight pavilions within the octagonal extension of the tower, this facility would serve as a future landmark for any global expo complex. The glazed atrium, is supported by columns shaped to represent lightning. Once the Expo event concludes, this complex could evolve into a mixed-use center, guaranteeing its viability.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Octagon Expo Pavilion is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Octagon Expo Pavilion is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Octagon Expo Pavilion splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
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Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
Nikola Tesla's remarkable public display of his invention at the 1893 Chicago Colombian Exposition, along with his famous Long Island Tower—representing his goal to connect the world through radio signals—motivated me to create this design as a homage to his commitment to improving the quality of life on planet Earth.
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
For centuries, the octagon, as a perfect geometric shape, has been employed in the design of public buildings, and the Tesla Tower embodies this architectural style, making the Octagon pavilion surrounding the Tower a fitting option to showcase this form in harmony with the same design philosophy.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
I aim to present this design as a unique EXPO pavilion collection to all host EXPO nations globally that are eager to endorse OCTAGON and Nikola Tesla as a global scientific heritage, while also promoting their national inventions that can enhance overall quality of life
Grand Interview
Your innovative integration of Tesla's octagonal tower concept into the Octagon Expo Pavilion creates a striking landmark - could you elaborate on how this historical inspiration shaped your contemporary interpretation of sustainable architecture?
Given that Nikola Tesla played a significant role in illuminating the Chicago Expo of 1893, it felt entirely natural to pay architectural homage to his legacy. The Octagon Expo Pavilion draws direct inspiration from Tesla’s visionary octagonal tower concept, reinterpreting it through a contemporary lens of sustainable design and innovation. This project not only honors Tesla’s contribution to the history of science and architecture but also explores the possibility of reimagining his great tower as a symbol of clean energy, connectivity, and forward-thinking design in today’s context.
The lightning-shaped columns supporting the glazed atrium of the Octagon Expo Pavilion present a powerful visual metaphor - what inspired this dramatic structural element, and how does it enhance both the functionality and symbolism of the space?
As the atrium required supporting columns, the idea of shaping them like lightning bolts naturally emerged as an extension of the pavilion’s core symbolism. These dynamic, lightning-shaped columns not only embody Tesla’s association with energy and innovation, but also serve a functional and experiential purpose. They can be illuminated during special events, transforming the structure into a spectacular light show that evokes the visual power of lightning strikes, further reinforcing the connection between architecture, energy, and inspiration.
Given the Octagon Expo Pavilion's impressive scale of 215,000 square meters, how did you approach the challenge of creating intimate, human-scaled spaces within such a monumental structure?
The Octagon Expo Pavilion is intentionally organized into eight independent pavilion segments, each approximately 370 square meters. With a gross surface area of 15,000 square meters, including a glazed atrium courtyard and a green roof terrace, this modular layout provides maximum functional versatility and supports the accommodation of a wide range of Expo-related programs and services. By employing a hierarchy of spaces and varied volumetric scales, the design fosters a sense of human proportion and experiential intimacy within the larger monumental framework, while ensuring clear circulation paths and maintaining overall architectural coherence across the complex.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The octagon symbolizes an idea that may appear as one of the unique pavilions at global exhibitions, featuring the reconstruction of the Tesla tower as a viewpoint at the core of the collection. A special detail is the observation platform at the top of the tower. The glass atrium offers an impressive sight for visitors from within the octagon's interior. This design symbolically represent timeless space vehicle for the advent of good health and good fortune.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The tower stands at 57 m tall with 44000 sqm at the ground level, 88000 sqm for the first and second floors, an atrium and green roof park covering 28000 sqm, giving it a gross area of approximately 215000 sqm
- Tags
- Expo pavilion, energy conservation, solar energy, lookout tower,
- Production Technology
- This design originated from sketches and was then developed in 2d and 3d with post-production incorporating aI tools. The methodology also included photo analysis of the Tesla tower, which has served as the foundation for both 2d and 3d computer illustrations. The tower could be enhanced with a mix of new materials and constructive elements to meet 21st century standards as an energy-efficient design.The proposed solution is designed to feature a structural system that allows the support of the atrium roof, covered with glass lattice, to be held up by columns shaped like lightning.
- Design Challenge
- The establishment of a distinctive pavilion complex enables the integration of these pavilions into a mixed-use cluster and a novel community in cities globally, particularly in nations that recognize and support energy efficiency and the advancement of science overall.
- Research
- The study focused on linking thematic structures of communication spanning a century. The experimental tower will be transformed into a pavilion meant to bring together individuals from around the globe and convey the idea that communication started with Tesla and persists with the upcoming generation of scientists, who, motivated by the Tesla tower, have elevated communication further by launching satellites into orbit
- Inspiration
- The innovations and experiments of Nikola Tesla in the 21st century capture significant interest from the global audience. This design draws inspiration from Nikola Tesla's tower and is enhanced by a courtyard extension shaped like an octagon, providing the composition with essential sculptural qualities and a fitting connection to the mass typology within the design
- Project Duration
- The design phase began in 2024, and the development is anticipated to occur in 2026
- Operation Flow
- The venue can serve as a fair pavilion that may be transformed into a commercial and residential space post fair, thereby guaranteeing its sustainability.
- Team Members
- Aleksandar Rudnik Milanovic
- Image Credits
- Aleksandar Rudnik Milanovic
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