Probably, but whatever he has planned it doesn't look like we've seen it yet.
So far Zelda U looks like the familiar kind of game that the franchise is.
Aonuma said he wanted to challenge the conventions of Zelda. So far we haven't seen proof of this.
A large world was the logical step for aa next gen Zelda game after SS especially when games like Skyrim, Witcher and Fallout exist.
The 'challenged conventions' may still be prove in terms of...