Press
April 27, 2018 - Co.design
Exclusive: Lessons From Airbnb’s First Foray Into Urban Renewal
Last year, Airbnb unveiled a community center designed to help revitalize a shrinking town in Japan. A year later, CPO Joe Gebbia shares what the company has learned–and what it has planned next… read more
January 8, 2018 - Reuters
Rural women in India, elderly in Japan open their homes to Airbnb guests
Mobile apps that help women in the Indian countryside and tiny villages in Japan to open their homes to visitors from across the world are generating incomes, revitalizing remote communities and helping to curb migration to cities… read more
December 6, 2017 - Cool Hunting
AIRBNB + GO HASEGAWA’S CEDAR HOUSE IN YOSHINO, JAPAN
In Japan’s Nara prefecture, the rural town of Yoshino now plays host to a community-run Cedar House, available on Airbnb. Designed by the accommodation service’s studio (known as Samara) and Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa, the building was constructed by local foresters, woodcutters and carpenters. And while the townspeople have been integral in its development, all of the wood was sustainably sourced and milled locally… read more
June 3, 2017 - Dwell
The Community-Run Cedar House by Airbnb and Go Hasegawa Welcomes Guests in Rural Japan
Now available to book through Airbnb, Yoshino Cedar House serves as a shared space for the rural community of Yoshino, Japan, and its visitors… read more
March 27, 2017 - Wallpaper*
Cedar House Rules: Airbnb and Go Hasegawa’s rural revival project opens for rental
Following its launch at last year’s House Vision exhibition in Tokyo, the Yoshino Cedar House designed by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia together with Go Hasegawa, has returned to its birthplace and is now officially open for rental… read more
February 14, 2017 - Fortune
Airbnb Is an Expert At Building Trust Between Strangers. Now It's Using That Skill for Good
“When we started 10 years ago, people were not staying in strangers’ homes,” says Airbnb’s co-founder and chief product officer Joe Gebbia. “We needed to walk them across the bridge.”… read more
February 15, 2017 - Afar
Airbnb Enters the Hotel Business (Sort Of)
Imagine booking your next Airbnb stay—with an entire town as your host. That’s the idea behind Yoshino Cedar House, the home-sharing site’s first-ever guesthouse, set along a river 65 miles south of Kyoto in rural Yoshino, a town surrounded by the cedar forests of Japan’s Naraprefecture… read more
August 2, 2016 - Co.Design
An Exclusive Look At Airbnb’s First Foray Into Urban Planning
Airbnb announces a brand-new innovation lab called Samara, whose first project is a novel community center in Japan… read more
August 2, 2016 - Curbed
Airbnb builds community center in Japan as part of new innovation lab
House Vision Tokyo, a fascinating new exhibit on innovative housing solutions is well underway in the Japanese capital, and the only Western company invited to participate isn’t some hotshot architecture firm, but the short-term rental site Airbnb… read more
August 2, 2016 - Design Boom
Airbnb + Go Hasegawa's Yoshino Cedar House vision to become bookable listing
House Vision 2016 Tokyo: Airbnb is the first western company to be invited to participate in the second edition of House Vision, an exhibition curated by Japanese designer Kenya Hara, bringing together renowned names in the design and architecture industry to present ideas on the future of the home. the ‘Yoshino-sugi Cedar House’ is the first outcome of airbnb’s newly created multi-disciplinary innovation and design studio: sSmara. together with Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa, the scheme focuses on a narrative directed at the town of Yoshino in the Nara prefecture… read more
August 4, 2016 - Design Boom
Airbnb launches Samara: an internal design + innovation studio led by Joe Gebbia
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia has announced the creation of Samara — a multidisciplinary innovation and design studio held internally within the company. Conceived with the support of co-founders Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk, Samara brings together design and engineering experts from Airbnb to explore the intersection of architecture, product production, software, and new economic models… read more
August 5, 2016 - Business Insider
Airbnb really, really doesn't want you to call its new project a hotel
Airbnb has built a hotel.
Of course, the company isn't calling it anything as crude as that. The startup has announced the formation of a new design studio, Samara, that has a mission of "exploring new attitudes towards sharing and trust… read more
August 4, 2016 - Dezeen
Sou Fujimoto, Kengo Kuma and more propose future houses in House Vision exhibition
Japanese architects including Sou Fujimoto, Atelier Bow-Wow, Kengo Kuma and Shigeru Ban have all designed houses of the future for a Tokyo exhibition (+ movie)… read more
August 3, 2016 - Hypebeast
Airbnb Participates in House Vision, Announces Urban Planning Initiatives
Airbnb has been invited to participate in House Vision — an exhibition curated by Japanese designer Kenya Hara to bring together renowned names in design and architecture to present ideas about the future of the home. This marks the first time that a western company has been invited to showcase… read more
August 3, 2016 - Icon Design (Italy)
La nuova era di Airbnb?
Airbnb punta ad allargare gli orizzonti e con la nascita del nuovo studio multidisciplinare Samara annuncia un nuovo corso. La piattaforma che ha ridisegnato il concetto di ospitalità alberghiera guidata da Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky e Nathan Blecharczyk parte per una nuova avventura che indagherà i campi di architettura, product design e nuovi modelli di sviluppo urbano… read more
August 3, 2016 - Inhabitat
Airbnb takes on urban planning with communal housing project in Japan
Just about everyone knows Airbnb is a great resource for finding temporary places to live—for a night, a weekend, or a little longer. Now, the hospitality company is taking on a new challenge: design spaces that will become enduring fixtures of their communities for years to come… read more
August 3, 2016 - It's Nice That
Airbnb launches its own in-house design studio, Samara
Airbnb has launched its own in-house innovation and design studio, named Samara. It will employ design and engineering experts from Airbnb to work on creative ideas broadly related to the company’s remit, exploring architecture, product design, software engineering and new economic models. As described on its website, it’s a chance for Airbnb’s “community values to evolve beyond travel and hospitality and into our daily lives.”… read more
August 6, 2016 - Les Echos
Airbnb va construire ses propres logements
Le géant de la location éphémère a annoncé qu'il livrerait en octobre sa première maison, au Japon… read more
August 5, 2016 - Mashable
Airbnb design studio will build 'community centers' in small towns
Airbnb is moving beyond home-sharing with a new design firm called Samara. The new initiative pushes the company into a type of urban planning, with the firm positioned to evaluate declining small towns that could benefit from an Airbnb-sponsored project. Those projects themselves, as Business Insider pointed out, look a lot like hotels or hostels… read more
September 1, 2016 - Monocle
Designs of the Time
‘House Vision’ is an exhibition that invites creative thinkers to explore new possibilities for urban living. Welcome to the future of the Japanese house – delivery-friendly outdoor fridge and handy pull-down bath included… read more
August 30, 2016 - Observer
Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia on His $30 Billion Company’s New Venture
Joe Gebbia has found himself in a makeup chair prepping for a photo shoot in San Francisco, freshly returned from a visit to Japan via Brazil, and on the phone with me… read more
August 2, 2016 - Re/Code
Airbnb’s co-founder is creating an in-house design studio to promote stuff like this trippy house in Japan
Airbnb has reached a $30 billion valuation on the strength of its short-term home rental platform, which makes a lot of money… read more
August 24, 2016 - South China Morning Post
Tokyo exhibition presents a vision for the future of housing
Modern society is not short of complex social, economic and environmental problems to overcome. Curator and designer Kenya Hara believes “housing is one of the best mediums for exploring the most pressing challenges we face”… read more
August 22, 2016 - The Guardian
Airbnb has started building its own listings – will planning cities be next?
With a new design studio and a communal house in a Japanese village, Airbnb has announced its ambitions to change the way we live, travel and share space. Some say the company are venturing into urban planning – are they?… read more
August 2, 2016 - The Verge
Airbnb plans to build community centers in small towns
Airbnb is starting up an experimental design group to work on odd new hospitality projects that could one day become major company initiatives. The group is called Samara, and its first project is to build "community centers" to draw tourists to small, little-traveled towns… read more
August 22, 2016 - TL Magazine
Airbnb Launches Samara with Yoshino Cedar House
Airbnb is going avant-garde. Last week, co-founder/CPO Joe Gebbia announced the launch of the company’s new Samara initiative. The in-house multidisciplinary innovation and design studio brings experts together to expand Airbnb’s existing services and pioneer new areas of its community… read more
August 4, 2016 - Wired (Italy)
Airbnb lancia Samara, un progetto per riqualficare le zone rurali
L’azienda lancia un progetto in una città sperduta del Giappone, una struttura che accolga gli ospiti e aiuti la comunità locale a riappropriarsi delle zone dimenticate… read more