Airbnb is launching a contest for the world’s most unusual housing projects
Airbnb is launching a contest for the world's most unusual housing projects
Airbnb abounds with interesting vacation housing options like Air bee&bee. But the online vacation rental market could soon experience a new boom, as the service launches a contest for the most extraordinary vacation home projects, 100 of which will later be funded. The contest fund is $10,000,000. Once built, the homes will become available for rent and will be featured in the “Wow!”-section with the most unusual projects. Anyone can apply.
The 100 people with the craziest ideas will each receive $100,000 to implement them. The projects will be judged by a panel of experts on criteria of originality, feasibility, usability and sustainability. Judges will include Christy Wolfe, who has built fun homes herself, architect Koichi Takada, Bruce Vaughn from Airbnb, and interior design and fashion guru Iris Apfel.
Airbnb provided some photos of designs that were appropriate for the contest. One of the homes is the tiny Yellow Submarine, a Beatles-inspired house in New Zealand. The project itself is spectacular, but in reality it is also an ingenious original invention from an old grain silo and recycled materials. The interior is not that cramped, accommodating up to 4 residents, plus it has a small outdoor terrace.
“Big Idaho Potato Hotel” was created by Christy Wolfe herself in 2019, converting a used giant advertising potato weighing nearly 6 tons into a unique living space. The hollow tuber used to lie empty and was used as storage, but it now includes a sleeping area and some seating. Unfortunately, the windows were never cut out, so claustrophobes are unlikely to be comfortable here.
To register your dwelling idea, go to the contest page and submit a contest entry by July 22. Each idea must be feasible and able to pass building inspections. The construction itself will need to be completed by August 2023.
