Airbnb launches innovation and design studio as it makes foray into urban planning
Airbnb has created a new innovation and design company to support its sharing community, which has already begun it’s work with the design and build of a community centre in Tokyo to merge the local community with Airbnb guests.
Airbnb Samara
Called Samara, the division will bring together design and engineering experts from Airbnb to create new ideas and will encompass architecture, product design, software engineering, and new economic models.
The first project from Samara is the Yoshino Cedar House, a centre created in collaboration with Go Hasegawa, a Tokyo-based architect, to explore how architectural features can forge a deeper relationship between hosts and guests. The house debuted at an exhibition in Tokyo and will be permanently installed in Yoshino, a rural town in the Nara district of Japan, where it will be a bookable Airbnb that is maintained by the community.
The town has been hit by young people leaving the area and so proceeds earned from guests who book the listing will be used to strengthen the ‘cultural legacy and future of the town’.
“Samara is all about generating new ideas and building products that serve the Airbnb community,” said Airbnb co-founder and chief product officer, Joe Gebbia. “Samara will give us even more space to apply what we’ve learned over the last eight years and create new services for connection, commerce, and social change within the expanding Airbnb community.
“The Yoshino Cedar House is just one seed among many. Given the size and scale of the Airbnb community, the areas to explore are limitless.”
Yoshino Cedar House is the first Airbnb of its kind and the company said that it will consider expanding the concept to similar communities around the world should it prove a success.