This week, the San Francisco-based company is taking on a new challenge by starting a brand new division.
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Because Japanese culture already incorporates community centers and the government has goals to build more of them, Airbnb believes locals will embrace the concept-especially once they begin to realize the financial benefits.
At a time when the tech world seems obsessed with reinventing cities through the biggest of data and most internet-connected of things, Airbnb’s first stab at urban planning-if we may call it that-comes off refreshingly practical. This inaugural project, for example, grew from an inspiring story coming out of the small Japanese town of Tsuyama Okayama, where an older woman’s Airbnb listing became popular enough for her to enlist other locals as tour guides and translators.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia – who originally trained as a designer – announced the new branch of the company earlier this week.
So now, Airbnb is looking to capitalize upon this experience.
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“The mission of this new internal design studio is to develop services and ideas that extend Airbnb’s values and vision into new areas”, said the company, which Gebbia started with Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk in 2008. “It’s a pathway to get the community to help each other, and it happens to be in the form of architecture”. “I picture Western guests walking up, stepping inside, and you’re interacting with the community from the minute you arrive”. According to the release, money earned from Airbnbers “will be used to strengthen the cultural legacy and future of the area, which has struggled as younger generations migrate away from rural towns”. “We’re going to use the lens community to build services that open new doors and new revenue streams for the community”, he said.
