Airbnb has launched an in-house design studio, Samara, whose first project is the Yoshino Cedar House in Yoshino, Japan.
With a goal to “merge the community with space for guests,” the house with a distinctive triangular roof, which forms a second-floor sleeping area, is fully owned by Airbnb and will soon be available to book as a listing in Yoshino, a town in Nara Prefecture.
The project marks Airbnb’s first deliberate effort to help revitalize a regional area financially through tourism. Proceeds from guests will be put toward rejuvenating the local area. The move is also significant in that, while never referred to as a hotel, the project is a physical manifestation of the Airbnb brand.
Airbnb told Fast Company that the property is more of a “community center where travelers could also stay—thus providing the community with a central meeting point where they could also serve as hosts to tourists.”
Samara is led by Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia, who said the project allows hosts to get an economic stimulus and something to get excited about. “It’s a pathway to get the community to help each other, and it happens to be in the form of architecture,” he said.
In a blog post, Gebbia said Samara has a mission of “exploring new attitudes towards sharing and trust” and aims to develop design services “that extend Airbnb’s values and vision into new areas,” according to a statement from the company. Areas of focus will be architecture, service design, software engineering and new economic models.